When Darkness Falls
by Shadpup
Summary: The team travels to Vermont to investigate the discovery of human bones in a national park. Will they find the killer before he takes another victim?
1. Prologue

_Here we goes folks. The start of a new story. As before I do not own Criminal Minds or any of its characters. Enjoy._

* * *

Emily ran. She ran like there was no tomorrow. She ran not only to save her own life but also the life of the little girl who clung to her back like a barnacle to a ship's hull. Her lungs burned with every breath, her legs ached with each pounding step but she did not stop. She could not stop. Emily had no intention of dying today or any time in the near future especially on the side of some god-forsaken mountain.

She cast a quick glance over her shoulder without breaking stride. No sign of her pursuer, but she could hear him crashing through the woods behind her. He was getting closer, she realized. Emily dug into her reserves and put on a burst of speed, ignoring the pressure as the little girl tightened her death hold around Emily's neck and waist.

A loud crack filled the air and a chunk of bark blew away from the tree next to her. She veered sharply to the right and hurtled a fallen tree trunk. _Fuck_, she silently swore. She had forgotten about the revolver he had boasted about. _Oh well_, she thought ruefully, _one shot down, five shots to dodge._

"One," she hissed through clenched teeth.

CRACK! CRACK! The ground at her feet erupted in a shower of dirt and leaves.

"Two. Three." Her blood was pounding in her ears.

Emily plunged down an embankment at full speed, arms wind milling to maintain her precarious balance. CRACK! The bullet tore into the tree to her right.

"Four!" she wheezed, her lungs feeling like they were ready to burst.

Emily didn't know how much longer she could keep up this grueling pace. She stumbled as he fired, the bullet sailing harmlessly over her head.

"F…five!" her breath came out in short gasps.

She dodged around a large rock as the last shot rang out. The loud crack was then followed by a sharp ping. Emily's leg exploded in pain. It buckled and her forward momentum sent her crashing to ground. Knees first, then her outstretched hands, small pebbles digging into her palms. Elbows followed painfully and ended with her chin scraping the ground. Stars danced before her eyes and what little breath she had, left in a sudden whoosh.

The child, jarred loose by the impact, tumbled over Emily's head. Instinctively, Emily's hands shot out, snagged the little girl by the legs and pulled her back, tucking her underneath her body, forming a human shield over the small child.

Clutching the child as tight to her chest as she could, she peeked over her shoulder as she struggled to catch her breath. He came barreling up, eyes wild, mouth curled into a sneer and blood oozing down his face from when she had slammed him into the wall.

He skidded to halt and pointed the gun at her head. "You BITCH!" he snarled. "You took my daughter!"

"I did," she said coolly, though her heart was beating a thousand beats a minute. "You wanted me to take care of her and I am."

"Let go of her!" he screamed at her.

Emily could feel the little girl trembling in her arms. "No."

"Then you die," he growled and squeezed the trigger. Click. Stunned, he tried again. Click. Click.

"I think you are out of ammo," Emily said with a wicked grin.

With a roar of frustration, the man pitched the empty gun to one side, pulled the hunting knife from its sheath on his belt and lunged. Emily hunched over the little girl, closed her eyes and waited for the biting pain of the knife sinking into her back. Guess she was wrong. Today was her day to die.

* * *

_Yes, it was short but sweet. A little teaser of what is to come. Let me know what you think. Until next Weds._


	2. Chapter 1

_Surprise! I couldn't let you hang for an entire week on that little teaser from yesterday. I'm wicked but not that wicked. Normally I don't write chapters that small but when I wrote that over a year ago, I knew it was the perfect opener. I must also state that I'm not a shipper. There wouldn't be any romance between the characters, I like them as friends and teammates. So please don't ask for it because it will never happen. Now go read._

* * *

**Earlier:**

JJ finished laying out the pens, files and pads on the round table. Picking up the remote, she moved to stand next to the wide screen and waited for the team to show up. Hotch, typically, was the first to enter. He gave her a curt nod and settled into the nearest chair, already perusing the file before he was fully seated. Morgan, Prentiss and Reid soon followed the Unit Chief. Judging from the flush of the younger agent's cheeks and the broad grins on the other two faces, they had been teasing him. And bringing up the rear was the newest member, David Rossi. In the month he had been with the team, he had proven to be a good fit. He was still a bit of a loner, having not quite adjusted to the brainstorming before each case that all profilers now employed.

When he had taken his place at the table, JJ turned to the screen and pressed a button on the remote, bringing up a large, green shaded map. Reid straightened, instantly interested, his fondness for maps lighting up his face.

"Green Mountain National Forest in Vermont," she began. "The area has been inundated with rain, flooding the local streams and rivers. When the water receded they found human bones along one stream." She pulled up a picture of a haphazard pile of bones lying in a muddy puddle.

Derek rubbed his chin. "And why are they bringing it to our attention? Besides being found on federal property?"

"Because it look likes they were dismembered by a sharp instrument," Dave commented, studying a photo showing deep cut marks in one bone.

JJ nodded. "The Coroner believes they were made by an ax or a hatchet."

Emily rested her elbows on the table and pointed a finger at the screen. "Is this the original crime scene or do they think the bones were washed downstream with the flood waters?"

"They're not sure. Currently they are searching both sides of the stream," JJ said.

Emily nodded while Reid leaned back in his chair, slowly rolling side to side. "Green Mountain National Forest encompasses 400,000 acres in central and southwestern Vermont. It has 900 miles of trails for hiking, biking, skiing and horseback riding," he happily expounded.

"You don't say," Dave said dryly with an amused eyebrow. After a month on the job, he was still amazed at how easily the young man could rattle off useless bits of information.

Everyone chuckled as Hotch glanced around the table. "We'll be heading to Rochester. Morgan and Prentiss, check out the crime scene. Dave, head to the morgue and check out the bones. Hopefully the Coroner will have more information like sex and number of victims. The rest of us will get set up at the ranger's station. I have Garcia working on missing person reports for the past ten years. Otherwise, wheels up in thirty."

* * *

After an hour on the road and a two-mile hike up the sad excuse of a trail, Derek and Emily finally reached the crime scene. At the head of the trail, a burly ranger with a bushy mustache and the unfortunate name of Red Wood, greeted them. Emily guessed it was a nickname for the color of his hair but when he took off his cap to wipe his brow; there wasn't a lick of hair on his head.

He held out his hand to them. "Enjoy the hike up?"

Emily grinned as she shook it. "Invigorating," she replied.

Derek gave her a dirty look. He didn't know about her, but his feet were killing him. He bent over to retie his combat boots. "Can you show us where the bones were found?" he asked when he was done.

"Sure. It's this way," he said. The park ranger led them down a small hill to the banks of a happily babbling stream. "Right here." He gestured to the yellow flag on his left.

Derek removed the photo of the pile of bones out of the file he had brought along. He held it up over the spot where they had been found to get a better perspective while Emily peered over his shoulder. "I don't think this is the original resting place," she said.

"Why do you think that?" he asked, glancing back at her.

Emily moved around him to stand by the flag and pointed down. "This ground is higher than the bank. If this were the original spot where they were dumped, most would have been washed away when the stream flooded. It would have been the smaller and lighter bones and that was what was found here."

Derek turned to the park ranger. "Did the flood waters reach this spot?"

Wood nodded. "Yes, it did. The water was knee deep and the current was swift."

Emily nodded and gazed thoughtfully upstream. "Then they were carried down stream from another location."

"Yes, Ma'am, that's what we kind of figured. We have teams searching both sides of the banks: upstream and down."

She smiled at him. "Please call me Emily. Ma'am reminds me of my mother and it makes me feel old."

Derek chuckled. "Any luck so far? And it is Derek," he added when Wood paused, unsure on how to address him.

"Not so far, Derek. This stream's banks are overgrown and it meanders all over this section of the park. It's been tough for the search teams."

"I can believe that," he said, looking back at the crystal clear waters of the now slow moving stream. The park ranger stepped to one side when his radio crackled to life.

Emily was still looking upstream. "You know, Morgan, we may never find the dump site. Our UnSub or the wildlife could have scattered the remains. There is a good chance we'll never recover all of the body or bodies."

Derek arched an eyebrow at her. " Bodies? You think there are more victims out here?"

She crossed her arms and sighed. "Yeah, I do. That's what my gut is telling me and over the years I've learned to trust it."

Before Derek could reply, Ranger Wood returned to their side. "Agents, one of the teams found more bones," he said with a grimace.

"Where?" Emily asked, turning.

"Three miles upstream," he answered soberly. "And the only way there is on foot."

Emily grinned when Derek moaned. She punched her friend and partner lightly in the shoulder. "Think of it this way, Morgan. It will go a lot faster on the way back."

He glared at her which only made her smile wider. "How so?"

Emily's eyes danced in merriment. "It's all downhill."

* * *

Half-hour into their second hike, Emily got tired of listening to Derek grumbling under his breath. "You know," she said lightly, "Your feet wouldn't hurt if you had invested in a good pair of hiking boots like mine." She paused to show off her ankle high, chocolate brown suede and mesh Vasque books with thick lugged soles and heel and toe bumpers.

"My boots are fine," he said, trudging past her without a glance.

Emily glanced down at his scuffed, well broken in combat boots. She hurried to catch up and fell into step with him. "Combat boots are great for the occasional forage into the woods but for treks like this you need a sturdy boot."

"They're fine," he repeated.

She gave him a sly smile. "If you like when we get back, we could go shoe shopping."

Derek stopped and turned to her. "Prentiss, I don't want to go shoe shopping with you." He had no intention of sitting in a store for hours while she tried on a hundred pairs of shoes. He made that mistake once with Garcia and he had no desire to repeat the experience.

"Okay," she said with a 'no big deal' shrug. "It's your feet, not mine." She patted him on the shoulder and left him staring at her back. Derek shook his head in amusement and followed his partner up the trail.

* * *

Forty-five minutes later they were staring down at the two partial skulls and a scattering of larger bones. Derek knelt down and gently touched one of the skulls with a gloved finger and sighed. "We have two victims. Your gut was right."

"Yup," Emily agreed, studying the surrounding area. "Any cut marks on the bones?"

Derek leaned in to peer at one of the longer bones, probably the humerus from the arm, he guessed. "Yes," he said and sat back on his heels. "Looks like it's our UnSub."

When she didn't answer, he glanced up at his friend. Emily had her hands stuck in the large, single pocket of her forest green fleece pullover, staring off into the distance, eye thoughtful. He straightened and stood next to her. "What's going through your head, Prentiss?"

She turned to him. "Look around you, Morgan." She made a sweeping gesture with her hands. "This location is remote and rugged. It is so far off the regular trails that no casual hiker would venture here. He's an experienced hiker and knows this park, knows where to dump the bodies. He's a local."

Derek looked around. "That narrows the suspect pool to every man in every town surrounding the national park. Baby Girl is not going to like that search."

Emily nodded. "Without a doubt."

* * *

The hawk circled lazily above the treetops, contently gliding on the air thermals. Emily leaned against the passenger door nimbly juggling the four lug nuts while Derek wrestled the flat tire off the car.

"Be careful with those," he warned as he gave the tire one final tug. He almost fell on his ass when it popped off.

"Relax. I'm not going to lose…oops."

Derek glanced up at her in alarm. She grinned. "Just kidding," she teased, holding out her hands showing him all four lug nuts.

"Smartass," he said as he rolled the flat to the back of the SUV and came back with the spare.

Emily crossed her arms and gazed up at the hawk drifting overhead. "It's beautiful here," she observed.

Derek looked around and shrugged. "I guess." With a grunt he heaved the spare tire into place.

She continued on as if she hadn't heard him. Her eyes were now focused on the foliage. "And when the leaves turn it will be spectacular, a riotous mass of red, gold, orange and yellow."

Derek tapped her hand and she dropped the lug nuts into his outstretched palm. "Then they go brown, fall off the tree and you have a million leaves to rake up," he observed as he screwed the nuts on.

Emily glanced down at him, wearing a half smile. "Not a fan of the woods?"

Derek shook his head as he lowered the jack. "Nope." The woods reminded him of the cabin Carl Buford had taken him to when he was a boy. He immediately erased that unpleasant thought from his mind. "I prefer my forest to be made out of concrete."

Her smile widened. "So you're a city boy."

"And you're a tree hugger," he shot back with a wink.

Emily chuckled and turned her eyes back to the woods. Derek picked up the tire iron. "Does this remind you of the French Alps?" he asked as he tightened the lug nuts.

"Yeah," she said, smiling fondly. The Alps were also gorgeous in the fall. The only thing missing here are the snow covered peaks."

"Nice." Derek replaced the hubcap. "Have you gone back?"

She shook her head. "Not since my grandfather died. It's not the same without him."

"I get it," he said with a nod. He went to put everything away in the back of the SUV. Emily was still gazing off into the woods when he returned. He leaned against the car next to her. "You should go," he said, wiping the dirt off his hands with a rag.

"What?" she asked in confusion.

"You should take some vacation time and go back to the Alps. Rediscover what you loved about it."

"Maybe I will, but first," her eyes harden, "we need to catch the bastard who is marring the beauty of this place.

* * *

"What took you so long?" Reid asked when Derek and Emily walked into the ranger station in Rochester.

"Flat tire," Derek said, taking a seat next to the young genius. Emily remained standing, too antsy to sit down after the long drive.

"Going up or coming back?"

"Coming back."

JJ let out a soft laugh. "You two are always having flat tires."

Emily went over to the murder board. "That's because Morgan will drive over anything in the road even though it is not good for the tires."

"I do not," he retorted.

"Yes, you do. Didn't you see that squirrel giving you the finger when you almost made it road kill?"

Reid frowned. "That is a physical impossibility. A squirrel's forepaws aren't designed to…"

"Reid!" Everyone in the room said.

He blinked in surprise as he looked around the table. "What?"

"Emily was joking, Spence," JJ said kindly.

"Right. I knew that," he said self consciously, his neck turning a light shade of pink.

Hotch repressed a smile. "Lets review what we have so far."

Dave shrugged. "Nothing but a pile of bones so far."

The Unit Chief consulted his notes. "The Coroner believes he has the remains of two victims. They are bringing in a forensic anthropologist to confirm and hopefully determine the sex."

Emily fingered the lanyard hanging around her neck. "It's definitely two people. We found skulls at a secondary location." She proceeded to bring the team up to date on what they had discovered in the park. She finished by saying, "He's a local. The disposal site is nowhere near any of the established trails. It's a place that a casual hiker wouldn't go."

Derek spun his pen on the table. "He doesn't want his victims to be found. He chops up the bodies to make them hard to find."

"Agreed," Dave said. "He's letting the elements and the wildlife to take care of the remains. There could be body parts scattered all over the park."

Everyone looked grim at the thought. "That leaves us with too large of a suspect pool and no way to narrow it down," JJ observed.

Derek spoke up. "How many missing persons reports did Garcia uncover?"

"Seventy-seven," Hotch said flatly. "Over a ten year period."

Emily's eyes widen in surprise. "That many? Reid, what is the national average?"

He cleared his throat. "Actually there isn't one. The National Park Service prefers to stay mum on how many people go missing each year in their parks. They're afraid if the actual number gets out, it would have a negative impact on tourism."

"Figures," she said, finally pulling out a chair and sitting down.

"We separated the reports for missing locals from the rest," JJ said.

"How many does that leave us?" Derek asked.

"Sixty-six," she said sadly.

He sighed and rubbed his jaw. "That's still too many."

"I think we can eliminate the locals," Emily said. "I can't see him going after them. Too much of a chance of being recognized. A visitor to the park is a more likely target. They are unfamiliar with the park so it wouldn't be a surprise if a few, on occasion, get lost."

"Good idea," Hotch agreed. "Let go through these." He divided the remaining files among them.

They spent the next couple of hours going over the files while Reid plotted on his large map of the park the name of the missing person and their last reported location. When they were done, they leaned back in their chairs staring at the map that now looked like it had a bad case of acne. It was covered with stickers; blue for the men and red for the women. Right now the reds outnumbered the blues.

Emily, with her chin resting in the palm of her hand, was the first to speak. "If you pardon the pun, they're all over the map."

A few of the team nodded in agreement. "Maybe we can eliminate the southwest portion of the park since the bones were found up here. That would narrow down the number," Reid suggested.

Dave shook his head. "Not necessarily. He could be using that part as a dumpsite too. We just haven't found any remains yet to prove or disapprove the idea."

"Right," Reid said, turning back to the map.

Hotch sighed and closed the file in front of him. "I think we've done all we can do here tonight. Hopefully tomorrow the Coroner and bone expert can give us some definitive answers. Otherwise, we have little to work with."

"The crime techs are still swarming over the new site looking for evidence. Maybe they will find something that will point us in the right direction," Derek said.

"Lets meet back here at nine sharp. Go eat and get some sleep." Everyone nodded and started to get up from the table when Hotch spoke again. "The hotel only has five rooms available. Two of us are going to have to double up."

"Emily and I can," JJ volunteered and looked at the brunette.

"Fine with me," Emily said with a shrug.

"Good," Hotch said. "Nine sharp tomorrow," he reiterated.

* * *

_There you go, the first official chapter. Now this Thurs. post was a one time occurrence. I'll be back on Weds. So let me know what you think. Until then._


	3. Chapter 2

_Welcome back everyone. Thanks for the nice response to this new story. So much appreciated. Now lets head back to the park and see what we find._

* * *

Derek sat up with a yawn then stretched, hearing his back crack in a good way. The flight and the hike to and from the crime scenes had worn him out. After a nice dinner with the team, he had headed back to his hotel room with every intention of relaxing in bed and watching a movie. But the second his head touched the pillow, he was out like a light and had slept soundly until his alarm had gone off.

He rolled out of bed and shuffled off to the bathroom to take a quick shower before heading down to the restaurant for breakfast. Derek got dressed, threw open the door and tripped over a box lying just outside of it. Instantly on alert, he scanned both ends of the hallway, hoping to catch a glimpse of whoever had dropped it off. Seeing no one, he cautiously bent down to examine the neatly printed note on top of the box.

Derek smiled, recognizing the handwriting. It was Emily's. She only printed when she wanted to make sure that her message got across. Otherwise, her handwriting was barely legible that not even the brilliant Dr. Reid could decipher it. Many in the BAU thought she was writing in one of the obscure languages she spoke fluently.

He picked up the box, carried it back into his room and sat on the bed. With the box resting in his lap, he read the note. Emily had kept it short but sweet. 'Your feet will thank me later' it said and was signed, 'Tree Hugger'.

Chuckling, Derek set the note to one side and opened the box. Inside was a brand new pair of Merrill mid-cut hiking boots; they were similar to Emily's with the thick lugged outsole and heel and toe bumpers. While hers were suede and mesh, his was all leather. She had also included two pairs of mid weight hiking socks. He took off his socks and combat boots and slid his feet into the new ones. Derek then stomped around his hotel room, amazed at how comfortable they were and that they were a perfect fit. Also, they looked damn fine on his feet.

Wearing his new boots, Derek left his room for the second time. While he waited for the elevator to arrive, he wondered how the hell Emily knew what his shoe size was.

* * *

Emily was the only member of the team in the hotel's restaurant when he arrived. She was seated at a table by the window, working the crossword from the morning paper. In front of her was a half eaten egg, cheese and bacon biscuit and a tall glass of orange juice. He took a quick detour to the buffet and helped himself to a heaping pile of scrambled eggs, a couple sausage links, wheat toast and a cup of coffee.

"Morning," he said as he settled in across from her.

Emily looked up from the puzzle and smiled, "Morning. Sleep well?"

"Like a rock," he answered, unwrapping the utensils and tucking into his eggs. He stopped in mid bite when he felt her eyes were still on him. "What?" he asked her in confusion.

Emily cocked her head to one side. "Well, lets see them."

"See what?"

Her eyebrows shot up. "Do I really need to say?"

"Oh, right!" he exclaimed, his face lighting up. "The boots." Derek stood up and moved back from the table so that she could see.

Emily nodded in approval. "I knew they would look good on you. How is the fit?"

Derek grinned as he sat back down. "Great. How did you know what size shoe I wear?"

Emily picked up her glass of orange juice and peered at him over its rim. "Lets say I know shoes." She took a long drink.

He chuckled as he speared a half link of sausage with his fork. "With everything going on yesterday, when did you have time to go shopping?"

She put the glass down and gave him a secretive smile. "A girl can always find time to go shoe shopping."

This time he laughed and reached for his wallet. "How much do I owe you?"

Emily waved him off. "Nothing. Consider them an early birthday or Christmas gift. You're choice."

Derek paused. "You sure? They had to be expensive."

"Positive," she said, picking up her breakfast sandwich. "I got a good deal on them."

"Thank you, Tree Hugger," he said sincerely, putting his wallet away.

"You're welcome, City Boy."

* * *

At nine sharp everyone had assembled in the conference room at the ranger station. Hotch passed out the reports he had copied earlier. "As you can see we have the findings from both the crime scene techs and the Coroner."

Emily flipped through the pages. "Both skulls were female and they have started the process of identifying them through dental records."

"But they are still trying to match up the bones with the skulls," Reid commented. "That's going to take some time."

"And with our luck they could find a third victim intermingled among the others," Dave said.

"That's a strong possibility," Hotch agreed.

Derek thumbed through the report from the crime scene techs. "They found absolutely nothing. No personal effects, no scraps of clothing. He must have stripped the bodies before he dismembered them."

"Definitely didn't want them to be found," Dave muttered.

"So we can eliminate the reports for the missing men?" JJ asked.

Hotch nodded. "For now, but keep them close by in case we have to return to the theory that he targets people based on convenience and not gender."

They spent the next several minutes shifting through the files, pulling the ones they didn't need while Reid removed from his map the names of the men. When he was done, he did a quick mental tally. "That leaves us with forty-one potential victims," he announced.

"Slowly getting smaller," Derek said with a sigh.

"Maybe we should break them down into smaller categories," Emily suggested. "Physical attributes, where they went missing, when it happened, where they are from and marital status. See what trends might develop."

"Good idea."

Everybody fortified themselves with fresh cups of coffee before getting down to the task at hand.

* * *

After four hours of paper shifting and list compiling, Hotch calls a halt to the proceedings. He suggested it was a good time to break for lunch and to meet back here in an hour. He didn't get any argument from his team; they were all tired from staring at reams of paper.

Derek and Emily left the ranger station and headed down the street to the small café they had spotted yesterday when they had driven in. The place was hopping when they got there and managed to snag the last two seats at the counter. They looked over the single, laminated menu and quickly made their choices while they waited for one of the harried waitresses to come over.

When she finally arrived with the coffee pot, Emily held her hand over her mug indicating that she did not want any. Instead she ordered a Coke.

Derek cocked an amused eyebrow at her. "You do know soda has caffeine in it?"

"I do," Emily said as she idly rearranged the condiments. "It also has sugar so I can be hyper and jittery at the same time."

He chuckled and while they waited for his turkey club and her BLT, the agents reviewed the case. They kept their voices low so as not to be overheard by any of the patrons. When their sandwiches arrived, the two friends switched to safer subjects: their love of Kurt Vonnegut's books, what they could tease Reid about next and how anal-retentive Rossi was.

Halfway through their lunch Emily's cell phone began to ring and skitter across the counter. She scooped it up and checked the screen. "It's Hotch," she told her partner and put it to her ear. "Prentiss."

Derek continued to munch on his sandwich as he listened to the one sided conversation. Emily kept repeating 'okay' and 'uh huh' and then she frowned. She pulled a napkin from the dispenser and made a writing motion with her free hand. He dropped his sandwich and patted his pockets for a pen. When he couldn't find one, Derek resorted to borrowing one from a passing waitress.

"Could you repeat that, Hotch?" she asked when he handed her the pen.

Emily shifted the phone to her other ear and propped it up with her shoulder so that she could hold the napkin while she wrote. She quickly jotted down the information Hotch was giving her in her indecipherable handwriting. "We'll get right on it," she said and hung up.

"Well?" he asked.

"Hotch had an idea," she said, consulting the napkin, "which means he is working through lunch. He had Garcia search the park records for the recovery of complete remains over the past ten years."

"I take it Baby Girl found some?"

"Our computer whiz found three. All men, no signs of cut marks and cause of death was a blow to the head," she replied.

"Intentional?"

"Undetermined. They could have been hit in the head or it could have been caused by a fall. Anyway, Hotch basically wants us to scout out the locations to see if there is any similarity in terrain between the scenes, that our guy possibly likes secluded glens or clearings. He'll have the files waiting for us."

"Sounds like fun," he quipped.

Emily smiled and glanced at his feet. "Looks like you are going to have a chance to test out your new boots."

Derek chuckled and they spent the next few minutes discussing the order they would visit the locations. They decided to check the two closest ones first and save the distant one for last, especially since it was in the opposite direction. If they didn't make it there today, they would go first thing in the morning. That settled, Derek paid the bill and they headed back to the station and their transportation.

Halfway back, Emily was almost knocked off her feet when a small child blundered into her legs. She grunted from the impact and Derek's hand in the small of her back kept her upright. Her concern immediately went to the little girl staring up at her.

Emily knelt to get on the same level with the girl and rested a hand on her shoulder. "Are you alright, sweetie?" she gently asked.

The girl blinked and then, much to the agents dismay, burst into tears. Emily pulled her into a hug. "Are you lost?" she asked, rubbing circles on the girl's back.

The little girl nodded into Emily's chest. "Y…y…yes," she hiccupped.

"That's okay, sweetie," she said softly. "We'll help you find your mommy. Do you know which direction you came from?"

She removed one arm from around Emily's neck and pointed a shaky finger back down the street. "That way," she sniffed.

"Okay," Emily said with a nod. "Lets go find your mommy. Can I pick you up?"

The little girl nodded. Emily grunted when she lifted the child; she was a lot heavier than she looked. With Derek at her side, they walked slowly down the street, eyes on alert for a frantic parent. If they didn't find her soon, they would take the girl back to the ranger station with them and let the people there handle it.

"My name is Emily. What's yours?" she asked, trying to distract the child.

She sniffed. "Mag…" she began.

"MAGGIE!" a panicked voice shouted. The two agents looked up to see a frantic woman running up the sidewalk. Derek flipped open his credentials and held it up so that the mother would know that they weren't kidnapping her daughter.

"Mommy!" Maggie squealed, squirming in Emily's arms, wanting to be put down. The second Emily set the girl's feet on the pavement; Maggie was off in a shot and was wrapped in her mother's comforting embrace.

The mother looked at them over her daughter's shoulder. "Thank you," she said with a tearful smile.

"You're welcome," Emily said with a smile. "My partner and I are just glad that we were able to help."

The thankful mother scooped up Maggie and slowly walked away, repeating over and over to her daughter how much she loved her. The agents knew that when both parties calmed down, there was going to be a discussion about wandering away. Both knew from experience how quickly a child could disappear and they were thankful that this one had ended on a happy note.

Derek casually slung an arm across Emily's shoulders. "That's our good deed for today," he said with a grin.

Emily returned it. "I'll take them whenever I can get one." She patted his stomach. "Come on. We have work to do."

He sighed dramatically. "I know. We have mountains to scale," he said, eliciting a laugh from Emily and with a chuckle of his own, followed his partner to the car.

* * *

"This is certainly off the beaten path," Emily observed as she and Derek climbed out of the SUV at the third location.

"There is absolutely nothing out here," Derek said as he stopped in front of the place where a piece of fluttering crime scene tape remained and stared down at the dirt. He turned back to his partner. "How the hell did they find this spot?"

Emily consulted the file she was carrying. "Two months ago a family was camping out a mile north of here." She slowly turned in a circle to get her bearings. She stopped and pointed to the left of the dumpsite. "That way. They had their dog with them. When the dog brought back a bone they didn't think much about it. But when he brought the lower jaw…"

"They panicked and call the park rangers?"

"Yes. And while they were waiting the dog took off. The husband followed and ended up here."

Derek knelt and poked the leaves under the piece of tape. "Did they find any other bones beside the original remains?"

Emily shook her head. "No, only the male hiker. He was missing part of his lower right leg and one arm that the wildlife must have dragged off."

"So no bones were found that could be connected to our victims," he stated, standing up and dusting off his hands.

"Yup," Emily agreed. She went back to the SUV and tossed the file through the open window. "So what do you want to do next? The same thing we did at the last two scenes?" she asked, leaning against the fender with her thumbs hooked on her jeans pockets.

Derek gazed around. "Yes. Lets split up this time. We'll be able to cover more ground and still get back to Rochester before dark."

Emily pushed off the car. "Okay. I'll head west. You?"

He shrugged and pointed to his right. "I'll go that way."

"East," she said with a smile and a shake of her head. "Men and their directions."

Derek frowned and wagged a finger at her. "Don't go to far. You can easily get lost in woods like these." Laughing, the two friends parted and began their search.

* * *

Emily made her way cautiously through the woods. Carefully she examined the trunks of the trees as she walked by. She was looking for any sign that their killer might have left: a piece of cloth snagged in the bark, slashes marring the wood from an ax, symbols carved into the surface indicating a path or where something or someone was buried. So far she had found nothing of interest. Their killer had left no trace of his passing, which meant he knew the national forest intimately.

She paused to catch her breath. With hands on her knees, Emily sucked in deep breaths of clean, fresh mountain air. Turning around she could see that she had been steadily walking uphill, explaining why she was winded. From where she stood, she could see nothing but trees and a scattering of rocks. She saw no sign of the car or Derek.

BEEP! BEEP!

Emily glanced down and pulled out her phone. She had set the alarm for fifteen minutes so that she wouldn't wander too far away from the crime scene. If they weren't so busy hunting a serial killer, she would sit down and enjoy the open sky, the happy babbling of the creek and the peace and quiet. She sighed at the opportunity lost and headed back phone still in hand, wanting to return before Derek started to worry unnecessarily.

She had managed to take a few steps before something strong snaked around her chest and jerked her backwards. With a startled cry, she dropped the phone. As her hands shot up to grab at what was holding her, Emily's back smashed into a hard and unyielding object. Before she could fully understand what was happening, she felt a sharp prick at the base of her neck. Immediately, the forest began to spin and her knees went weak, threatening to buckle at any moment. In her last second of true clarity, before the drug overwhelmed her system, Emily sent an elbow flying into her assailant's ribs. The grunt of pain from the well-aimed blow was the last thing Emily heard before her world faded into darkness.

* * *

_Hmmm...seems that Emily is in a spot of trouble. Do come back next week and see if Emily can get out of this sticky stituation. But before you go, let me know what you think. Until then._


	4. Chapter 3

_Again, thanks for the nice reception this story is getting. Much appreciated. Now lets get the the fun stuff and see what trouble Emily may be in._

* * *

The man stood over the crumpled body rubbing his sore ribs. Her resistance had surprised him. All the other women he had taken had been too frighten to put up any fight. But this one was different. He sensed that this one was a fighter and he was looking forward to the battle and breaking her.

Giving his ribs one more rub, he bent down and rolled the woman over and checked her pulse. It was strong and steady. _Perfect. She'll be out for hours._ Methodically he frisked her from top to bottom. When he pulled up the hem of the fleece pullover he wasn't surprised to find the Glock on her belt. He knew she was some type of cop. He hadn't known that when he saw her for the first time yesterday getting out of a car with the black man and going into the ranger's station.

She had instantly intrigued him. She had potential but he had been unsure if she was the right one so he had decided to watch her before making a final decision. From a safe distance he had followed her, first to dinner and then to the hotel. Just as he was settling down for the night, she had surprised him by coming back out and heading for one of the town's many outdoor stores. He had been puzzled by her purchase of men's hiking boots but it hadn't diminished his interest.

The next morning, he had followed her and her friends back to the ranger's station. When it had become obvious that she wasn't going to be coming out any time soon, he had gone about his own business. So it was much to his surprise, and delight, when she and the black man had sat down next to him at the lunch counter. He had discretely listened in on their conversation, even though they had taken great care not to be overheard. That was how he learned that they were cops and what their plans for the afternoon were.

All doubts vanished that she was the right one when he had witnessed her chance encounter with the little girl. She was his type of woman and he had to possess her. So while they had headed off to their first stop, he had hotfooted it their final stop to lie in wait for them. He didn't have any difficulty in locating the exact spot since he remembered where he had committed every murder. It had been a long wait, but it had paid out in the end; she had separated from the black man and had walked blindly into his hands.

In her back pocket he found her credentials. He flipped it open and let out a low whistle. "I have trapped myself a genuine FBI agent." Now he was more excited by the challenge of beating her into submission. He held them up to her face and peered intently back and forth between the two. "The photo does not do you justice, Agent Emily Prentiss," he said to her unconscious form. "You are far prettier in person."

Chuckling, he tucked the badge and weapon into his backpack. He would have to hold on to the gun for a while until the heat died down. A missing agent will have this whole area crawling with cops but they will never find them, he knew these mountains like the back of his hand. Then he would be able to pawn it. It was in good condition so he should get a good price for it. He chuckled some more. It's not like she is ever going to be in need of it again.

Now humming a happy tune, he pulled out a short length of rope from his bag. He rolled his drugged captive on to her side and lashed her hands tightly behind her back. He checked the knot again before picking up the unconscious agent and effortlessly tossing her over his shoulder. Bending at the knees he scooped up his pack. He straightened and paused to readjust his load. Once he had her in a more comfortable position he trotted off into the woods with his prize.

* * *

Naturally Derek was the first one back to the car. Emily was more comfortable in the woods, from her time she spent in the French Alps with her grandfather, than he would ever be. Like she had said he was a city boy. Derek preferred the sounds of car traffic, loud music, and the constant chatter of pedestrians to birds chirping, squirrels barking overhead, and the wind whistling through the trees. He glanced in the direction Emily had gone but didn't see her. _She's probably on her way back_, he thought. So to pass the time he retrieved the file from the SUV. Derek hopped up on the hood and started to review it.

Derek glanced at his watch and then to the trees hoping to see Emily emerging from them. He tried to ignore the nagging worry that had begun to eat at him. He was no longer interested in waiting and acted. Tossing the file aside, he pulled his phone out to call her. As it rang, he planned out a few choice words he'd have for her when she answered, reminding her what he said about getting lost. He felt the pit in his stomach grow when her voicemail picked up. She would have answered. With them being separated there would be no way she would ignore his call. Images of her tripping and hitting her head, lying injured and helpless ran through his mind.

Anxiety for his missing partner spurred Derek into action. Leaping off the SUV, he took off in the direction he had last seen Emily heading in. He ran blindly ahead, weaving through the trees and dodging rocks, shouting out her name. When a low hanging branch almost took his head off, Derek realized what he was doing was reckless. Running amok in the woods wouldn't find Emily, it would only result in him getting lost and Hotch would end up looking for not one, but two missing agents.

Derek forced himself to walk and to pay attention to his immediate surroundings. As his frenzied eyes scanned the leaf littered ground, he alternated between calling out her name and dialing her phone. As he searched, the slope of the terrain gradually increased and he was soon panting from the exertion. Like Emily had, he bent over and rested one hand on his knee to catch his breath. With his other hand he redialed Emily's phone.

The faint ring tone reached his ears. Derek shot upright, eyes scanning the woods, unsure if he had heard it or if it was a figment of his imagination. The ringing faded away. He hit the redial and held his breath. The ringing started up again. He hadn't imagined it. His head swiveled to the right.

"EMILY!" he shouted at the top of his lungs, taking off in a full run, exhaustion forgotten.

When the ringing stopped, Derek hit the redial button and veered to the left, pinpointing the source of the sound. He burst into a tiny clearing and ran past the phone before he had realized it was there. He slipped to a stop and went back. Breathing heavily, he stared down at the abandoned phone. With a shaking hand he picked it up.

"PRENTISS!" he yelled, hoping against all odds that she would answer. But all Derek heard was the echo of his own voice. Dismay overtook him when he realized that he held Emily severed lifeline in his hands. He had no way to find her.

"Damn!" Derek swore quietly. He glanced around the tiny clearing one more time before reluctantly making the call he did not want to make.

* * *

"_Hotch."_

The Unit Chief straightened, sensing something was amiss by the sound of the dark agent's voice. "Morgan, what's wrong?"

He heard him sigh. _"It's Prentiss. She's…she's missing."_

"What do you mean she's missing?" he asked sharply. Everyone around the table looked up at his tone.

"_I can't find her, Hotch."_

He started to explain when Hotch stopped him. "Morgan, I'm going to put you on speaker." He pushed a button and held the phone out so that everyone could hear. "Can you repeat what you just said?"

"Prentiss and I were checking out the last location and instead of staying together, we separated to cover more ground. When she didn't return with a reasonable amount of time, I went looking for her. All I found was her abandoned phone."

"Where exactly are you?" Hotch asked. Derek gave him detailed directions. "Stay where you are. We're on our way."

"_Hotch, I can't. I have to keep looking for Emily. She could be hurt,"_ Derek's protest came over the line.

Hotch glared at the phone in his hand. "You will do no such thing. Stay where you are. That's an order." Then he hung up, not waiting for Derek's rely.

He glanced at the shocked and worried looks on his team's faces, keeping his own concern off of his. Right now they needed a leader who was calm and emotionless. He turned his eyes to the blonde. "JJ, go back to the hotel and get an article of Prentiss' clothing. We may need it for the dogs. Dave, go find the head ranger and bring him up to speed." Both nodded and hurried off.

Hotch turned his attention to the young genius. "Reid…"

"I think I can help Emily best by staying here and coordinating the search areas with the rangers. By studying the maps I might be able to discern the best locations to search."

Hotch nodded and watched him go to work with a new map. He glanced at the clock on the wall. It was a little after three already and when they got up there it would be closer to four and only a few hours away from sunset. By the time they got everything organized, it might be too late and they would have to start the search for Prentiss first thing in the morning. It was an uncomfortable thought for him, leaving her alone in the woods overnight, especially if she was injured in any way. But there wasn't any thing he could do until they got there and assessed the situation. All he knew for certain that time was of the essence.

* * *

The first thing Emily became aware of when she came to was the throbbing headache behind her eyes. Second was that her mouth was as dry as the Sahara desert. She didn't even have enough spit to wet her lips. Third was that she was lying on her side, the smell of damp dirt and decaying leaves tickling her nose. She sneezed twice, which only made the headache worse. When she tried to cradle her aching head in her hands she discovered they were securely tied behind her back.

At first she was confused, having no memory of how she had gotten into this jam. Then it slowly returned in bits and pieces. She had been heading back to meet up with Derek when someone had grabbed her from behind. She remembered struggling and landing a blow to her attacker then everything went black. Had she been hit on the head? No, there had been a prick of pain from a needle. _Lovely,_ she thought. _I've been drugged._

"It's about time you woke up." A wave of fear coursed through her. That wasn't Derek's voice. "I was getting tired of carrying you."

Emily pried her eyes open. Everything was a big blur. She had to blink several times before the blurriness started to fade. Gradually things came into focus and she found her captor sitting on a rock, eating a can of baked beans. He waved the fork in her general direction. "I was surprised to see that you were a Fed. I didn't know they let women in. Are you that black man's assistant?"

_I can use that to my advantage,_ she thought. _Let him believe I am a weak woman, afraid to fight back._ Emily let her eyes drop to the ground and shifted nervously. Mentally she smiled. _He hadn't even bothered to tie my feet. Thinks I'm too scared to run away._

Emily managed to find enough spit to talk. "I'm the media liaison," she lied, letting her voice crack.

He frowned at the title as he tucked the empty can in his pack. "What does that mean?"

"I speak to the press." Emily kept her face turned away but watched his every move through half lidded eyes. She needed him closer.

He chuckled condescendingly. "Ah. Put the pretty face in front of the cameras. No need to think. Just read the words put before you by the men." He stood up and shouldered the bag. He boldly walked over to her reaching for her arm. "Time to go."

Emily lashed out with her right foot, aiming for the nerve that ran along the outside of the knee. The heel of her boot connected solidly. He bellowed in pain as the leg went numb and buckled beneath him. Her captor went down in a heap clutching at the knee.

As quickly as she could, Emily rolled to her knees and then to her feet, fighting off a wave of vertigo that threatened to send her tumbling to the ground. On wobbly legs she staggered away from her kidnapper, who was still rolling in the dirt. With each step her legs grew stronger, her stride lengthened until she was soon running at full speed.

She ran until a cramp in her side brought her to a stumbling halt. Ducking behind a tree, Emily leaned against it, chest heaving as she gasped for air. She cursed the traces of the drug still coursing through her veins for slowing her down. She peeked around the trunk and saw no sign of pursuit yet. She had five, maybe ten, minutes tops before the paralysis in his leg wears off and he comes after her, abet somewhat slower. Meanwhile she had to put as much distance between them as possible.

Keeping her eyes glued on where she had come from, Emily sat down and struggled to get her bound hands in front of her. With one more painful twist, she got them pass her hips and around her feet. Now she would be able to defend herself if needed. Emily looked around to orient her natural sense of direction. Once she knew which way to go, she took one last look back to see if the coast was clear. It was. Getting to her feet, Emily headed east at a trot, gnawing at the knot of her tied hands.

She kept checking over her shoulder and was beginning to think that she might have shaken him when something heavy smashed into her from the side. She and her kidnapper went down in a tangle of arms and legs, rolling down a slight incline before slamming into a tree, temporarily stunning both of them. Emily was the first to recover. Rolling on to her knees she gave her head a shake. _Damn! He's fast and quiet. I didn't hear him coming._

She started to crawl when he jumped on her back, driving her into the hard packed earth. As he clawed at her, Emily thrust her bound hands forward groping along the ground for anything she could use as a weapon. Her fingertips encountered a tree branch but it was just out of reach. She reared up and sent her elbow back connecting with his chin. Pain shot through the elbow but it was enough to loosen his hold on her. Emily wriggled forward and snatched up the branch. She twisted in his grasp and delivered a roundhouse swing to his head, snapping the branch in two.

He grunted in pain and rolled off her. Emily surged to her feet, the broken piece still clutched in her hand. Seeing his captive was on the verge of escaping, he lurched ahead and wrapped his arms around her knees before she had managed to take two steps. Emily went down hard, knocking the breath of her. Gasping for air, she levered herself on to her elbows and tried to drag herself away. He used his weight to pin her. She bucked and twisted, trying to dislodge him. With one hand he pressed down between her shoulder blades while he stuck his other in his coat pocket and pulled out a hypodermic needle. He used his teeth to uncap it and jabbed it into her neck. Emily cried out in pain. Her last thought before sinking under its influence was: _Crap! Almost made it!_

* * *

He climbed off her inert body, breathing heavily and wiped away the blood trickling down his chin from biting his tongue when she had elbowed him. "Bitch!" he growled and delivered a swift kick to her side. He didn't get any gratification from it, she wasn't conscious to feel the pain.

He had woefully underestimated her. He had known she was a fighter when he had taken her. But he had associated her elbowing him in the ribs as a reflex act of protection because she was scared of him. And the way she had acted after waking solidified the misconception. The last thing he had expected was her attacking him and almost succeeding in getting away. None of the previous women had tried to escape. Well he would simply have to take extra precautions to keep this one under control.

He bent over Emily and loosen the rope wrapped around her wrists. He pulled her arms back and retied her hands behind her. Then he picked her up and slung her unconscious body over his shoulder and headed back to where he had left his pack, grumbling under his breath about her forcing him to carry her for several more hours.

* * *

_Yes, Emily almost made it and Derek is going out of his mind with worry. Do come back and see how it plays out. Don't forget to let me know what you think. Until next Weds._


	5. Chapter 4

_Here you goes folks, here is the next installment. Enjoy._

* * *

Derek paced. He desperately wanted to continue searching for Emily, but he also knew that Hotch was right, that he had to stay put until they got up here with the search teams. He paused and looked around the clearing, running a worried hand over his head. Truthfully, he no idea in which direction she might have gone.

He sighed. Pacing and worrying wasn't going to help Emily. He needed to calm down and get control of his emotions. He had to view the situation as a profiler and not as a friend. "Okay," he asked aloud, "what should I do first? Search the perimeter for any signs of where her kidnapper might have taken her," he concluded.

Derek had no doubt at all that his partner had been taken. Emily was wood savvy; she had a natural sense of direction so she rarely got lost. She wouldn't have wandered off and leave her only link to civilization lying on the ground. Someone had to have surprised her, knocked her out somehow and dragged her off to his hideout.

With a renewed sense of purpose, the dark agent began his investigation. He carefully examined the ground, looking for any sign that a person or persons had passed through the area but found nothing. There weren't any snapped branches, none of the leaves appeared to have been disturbed and no threads were snagged in the bark of the trees. The ground was damp but not wet enough to hold a footprint. The only thing Derek found was two indentations, that could be scuff marks from the heels of someone's boots, near the spot where he found Emily's phone.

He beat a fist against his thigh; more frustrated than he had been when he had started. It was like Emily had vanished into thin air, leaving no trace behind as if she had never existed. Derek knew that it wasn't true but it sure felt like it.

"Emily, where are you?" he asked the woods forlornly, but it refused to give up its secrets.

* * *

Emily's first cognizant thought after waking up from being tranquilized for a second time was that this was getting old fast. She was once again lying on her side on the ground with the same drug induced headache and a dry mouth. Slowly she pried her eyes open to find her vision was just as blurry as before.

There were a few differences though. Her hands were once again tied tightly behind her and now secured against her back by a length of rope wrapped around her waist to prevent her from getting them in front of her. Emily also found her ankles tied together. Her captor had taken extra precautions to prevent her from escaping a second time. He had also placed a loose noose about her neck.

"You're a tough one," a voice chuckled.

Emily craned her neck to look above her. All she could see was an indistinct shape in front of what she guessed to be a tree. She shook her head slightly and blinked several times before the blurred vision faded.

Her captor was leaning casually against the tree, a water canteen in hand and a wearing a smirking grin on his face. "I like that," he said and saluted her with the water.

At the sight of the canteen, Emily automatically ran her tongue over her parched lips. The drug had made her thirsty, but there was no way in hell she was going to beg for a drink.

"You're going to be fun to break," he chuckled again and took a swig of water.

Emily's eyes narrowed. "That's what you think," she said, her voice flat and defiant.

He pushed off from the tree to come over and crouched down next to her. With her feet bound, he knew he was safe from her kicking at him.

"They always do in the end and so will you," he said, running a finger down her cheek. Repulsed Emily jerked her head away.

He laughed at her reaction then glanced up through the branches at the afternoon sky. He scratched his thick beard thoughtfully. "Seems we should get moving if we want to get to the homestead before dark."

"I'm not going anywhere with you," she said as she glared at him, wondering how far she could push him.

And it wasn't far, for the next she knew he was in her face with his hunting knife pressed against her throat. Emily froze, afraid that if she tried to swallow the blade would cut her. His eyes burned with anger.

"If you don't do as I say, I'll gut you like a pig. You understand me?" he hissed.

Emily knew there were times to stand your ground and fight and times to yield and wait for a better opportunity to attack. She chose the later one. "Yes," she said through clenched teeth.

"Smart girl," he said and patted her on the head like a dog. Emily bit back an angry retort. Not smart to get mouthy with a knife held up to your throat. Instead, she kept her eyes locked on his, showing that she was not afraid of him.

Smiling, he put the knife away and Emily slowly let out the breath she had been holding. Before she could regroup, he grabbed her and easily flipped her onto to her stomach. Then he sat on her, his heavy weight pushing her into ground, making it difficult to draw a breath. Emily bucked under him, trying hard to dislodge him. He growled in annoyance and snagged her ankles.

"If you don't settle down I will break your leg."

Emily stilled, panting from the exertion, head turn so that she could see him out of the corner of her eye and waited for her chance to strike. A few painful tugs and her feet were free. The moment she felt his oppressive weight shift off her back, she quickly rolled onto her side and lashed out with both feet…and missed. Her captor had nimbly dodged out of reach.

He wagged a finger at her. "I was ready for you this time."

Keeping a wary eye on her, he went back to the tree to retrieve his pack. Shouldering it, he bent down to scoop up the loose end of the rope he had secured around her neck. With a face now devoid of all humor, he took up the slack and gave it a sharp tug.

"Get up," he ordered.

When Emily did not immediately respond, he pulled it harder and she grimaced in pain. "Now!"

With considerable effort, Emily rolled to her knees. The woods spun and she closed her eyes as a wave of nausea washed over her. Bile rose at the back of her throat and she swallowed hard, silently cursing the after effects of the tranquilizers that were making her appear weak before her captor.

When she reopened them, he was standing directly in front of her with the water canteen in his hand. With a growl of annoyance, he uncapped it and thrust it at her. "Drink."

Emily eyed him guardedly before taking a drink. She gulped the water greedily, coughed it out and gulped down some more. When he thought she had enough he pulled it away.

"Now get up," he said and gave the rope a hard jerk.

Giving him a recalcitrant glare, Emily lurched to her feet and stood on unsteady legs. With a sneer, her captor turned and started up the incline. The rope grew taut forcing Emily to stagger after him, but she didn't go willingly. She profiled that he was use to women who had cowered under his threats of violence, so she fought him every step of the way. She dragged her feet, randomly reared back against the rope that would throw off his balance. Her goal was to annoy the hell out of him. If she frustrated him enough, he would be more likely to make a mistake that she could capitalize on. And it seemed to be working. From her vantage point she could see his shoulders tighten with tension.

Unfortunately, she couldn't keep her full attention on him. With her hands bound behind her back, her balance was much more precarious. One misstep could send her tumbling to the ground and without her hands to break her fall; she could do some serious damage to herself. All ready she had stumbled twice to her knees, the second time tearing a hole in her jeans and drawing blood. Now she walked with one eye on him and one on the ground.

* * *

It took almost two hours for Hotch and the team to reach him. The Head Ranger unfolded a table and spread a map of the area. Everyone clustered around it and began discussing the size of the search grids, which direction Emily most likely would have gone and the size of the search parties. Derek circled the group liked a caged tiger, anxious to get the show on the road.

When they finally decided to search the immediate area due to time constraints, he was ready to join the first team heading out. But Hotch pulled him to one side and gravely informed him that he was not going with any of the parties.

Derek stared at him in disbelief. "What do you mean I'm not going?" he protested. "It's my fault Emily is in the hands of that bastard. I'm the one who suggested that we split up."

"We don't know that for sure," Hotch said reasonably. "Prentiss may have gotten lost. It can happen."

Derek stiffened in anger and glared directly into his boss's eyes. "Do you believe that, Hotch?" he demanded. "Do you think she is simply lost, knowing Prentiss as you do?"

Hotch hesitated for a heartbeat. "No, I don't," he admitted. "But we don't have proof either way, so lets not jump to any conclusions before we do."

"Fine," he said impatiently. "Can I go now and look for my friend?"

He shook his head. "Not yet. If Prentiss has been kidnapped, and I emphasize the word 'if', then you might have run into him. I need you to tell me everything the two of you did today."

Derek took a deep breath to calm down and focus his muddled thoughts. He guided his Unit Chief through their day; from the moment they left the ranger's station to when he last saw Emily.

"Did anyone or anything stand out? Was someone paying too much attention to Prentiss?"

The dark agent said no to both questions. "Nothing out of the ordinary."

"Then how did he know the two of you would be here?" Hotch wondered.

Derek looked around. "I have no idea."

* * *

Just as the sun was setting they reached their final destination. Her captor stopped and jerked on the rope, forcing her to stumble to his side.

"Welcome to your new home," he said, gesturing grandly with his arm.

Emily stood swaying on weary and trembling legs and looked around. Across a small clearing a crude log cabin sat nestled under towering pine trees. Attached to one side was a lean-to that sheltered cords of firewood under its roof. A littler further off, stood two more buildings that Emily guessed to be a storage shed and an outhouse.

With a smile, he moved forward leading her to the lean-to. Just before they entered, he shot out his foot and tripped her. Unable to break her fall, Emily slammed face first into the hard earth. Her breath whooshed out; stars danced before her eyes and she tasted dirt and the blood from her bleeding nose.

He leaned down and spoke into her ear. "That's payback for kicking me."

With her struggling to draw in air, he easily retied her ankles, making sure the knot was extra tight. He then grabbed her by the collar of her fleece pullover and dragged her the rest of the way in. He propped her up against a section of the cabin wall with a metal ring embedded half way up. He threaded the rope through it and left enough to keep her in a sitting position. If she attempted to lie down it would strangle her.

He dusted off his hands and grinned wickedly. "Hope you are comfortable because this is where you are staying for the rest of the night. It's punishment for all the stunts you pulled on the way here. Luckily for you, it's supposed to be a mild night, so I know you won't freeze to death."

He took a few steps away before turning back to her. "Any parting words before I go inside my warm cabin?"

"Go to hell!" she growled.

He threw back his head and laughed. "I don't have to. You, unfortunately, are already there."

* * *

"Agent Hotchner?"

"Yes?" Hotch turned to see Head Ranger Daly approaching. For the past two hours he had been staring off into the distance, hoping against all hope that one of the search parties would return with Prentiss safe within their care.

Ranger Daly rested his hands on his hips. "I'm afraid we have to call off the search for Agent Prentiss for the night. We need to get everyone off the mountain before dark."

"I understand," Hotch said with a nod.

Derek stormed over. "We can't stop yet. There's plenty of daylight left," he protested, gesturing angrily at the sky.

The Head Ranger's head swiveled to Derek and spoke in a calm voice. "Agent Morgan, I know you are worried about your partner, but I know these mountains. It gets darker up here a lot faster than you think and I can't have people bumbling around in the dark. Rest assured, we'll be back up here at first light with more people and search dogs."

"He is right," Hotch said, glaring at the younger agent. Though his tone was firm, his eyes were full of sympathy. He too, wanted the search to continue, but he had to listen to the voice of reason and right now that was the Head Ranger.

Hotch held out his hand. "Thank you. We'll meet you up here at first light."

The ranger shook his hand and looked back at Derek. "Don't worry, son, we won't stop looking until we find her. You have my word." With a curt nod to both, he headed back to the command table to recall the search parties.

The Unit Chief briefly rested his hand on Derek's shoulder. "Lets head back to the hotel and get some sleep. You won't be any good to Prentiss if you are exhausted."

Derek took a step back and crossed his arms over his chest, a look of determination on his face. "I'm staying here."

Hotch slowly turned, not sure if he had heard him correctly. "I beg your pardon?"

"I'm staying here," he repeated. "Someone needs to be here in case Emily finds her way back."

"Morgan, I don't think that is a good idea."

"I'm not changing my mind, Hotch. I can use the SUV as a shelter and I'm sure I can get some supplies from the rangers."

Hotch studied the younger agent standing defiantly before him. It was obvious that his thoughts and actions were being driven by his guilt. He could deny his demand and drag him off the mountain, but the moment his back was turned, Morgan would be right back here waiting for Prentiss.

"Alright," he said, giving his permission with a reluctant nod of the head. "But you are to remain with the SUV. At no time are you to go looking for Prentiss. Understood?"

"Completely. Thanks," Derek said and headed off to talk with the Head Ranger.

Hotch scanned the surrounding woods one more time before turning to hike back to where the vehicles were parked. JJ and Dave fell into step with him. JJ glanced back over her shoulder. "Isn't Morgan coming with us?"

"No," the Unit Chief answered, staring straight ahead. "He's staying behind in case Prentiss returns."

Dave arched an eyebrow in concern. "Are you sure that's wise?"

"I don't have much of a choice. I could physically haul him back to town but he would find his way back up here. His guilt is keeping him on this mountain."

"Hope it also keeps him from doing something stupid like looking for her in the middle of the night."

"Agreed," Hotch said with a grim nod. "Tomorrow I want the two of you back at the ranger's station with Reid."

JJ interrupted him. "You don't want us helping to find Emily?"

"I'll be up there with Morgan aiding in the search. Your time will be better spent looking into every man who grew up and still lives in Rochester. Have Garcia do a deep background check on all of the park personnel. They are the ones who best know this park."

"You believe Prentiss was kidnapped?" Dave asked.

"Absolutely. Someone in this town knew where they were heading."

* * *

As soon as her captor had disappeared about the corner of the cabin, Emily attacked her restraints with a vengeance. She twisted her hands back and forth testing the strength of the rope, ignoring the stabbing pain as it dug into her wrists. There just wasn't enough give to let her hands slide through. With a growl of frustration, she gave up for now. Emily turned her attention to the rope around her ankles, thinking if she could get her legs under her she might, just might, reach the knot. Unfortunately for her the knot was in the front and out of the reach of groping fingers.

"If only I had something to cut the ropes with," she mused, scanning the dirt floor of the lean-to. A glint of metal at the base of the cabin wall caught her attention. Emily squinted, at it then her eyes widened. "A piece of a broken saw blade," she breathed. "Now if I can reach it."

She shuffled around until she was parallel to the wall. Using her hands to brace herself, she scooted forward and down until the noose around her neck grew taut to the point of choking her. Emily stopped and stretched out her legs as far as she could. She bit her lip in concentration and in pain from the pressure she was putting on her hands. With each stretch, her feet inched closer to her prize. With arms shaking from the effort to keep upright, she took a deep breath and thrust her legs forward one last time and…fell short by six inches.

"Damn!" she swore loudly, but not too loud to draw the attention of her captor. She pounded the heels of her boots into the ground in irritation.

Sighing in defeat, Emily shifted back to her original position and leaned against the wall. She wondered what she had done to piss off the gods of fate. They were busy bestowing on her one crappy day. Somehow she and Derek had managed to stumble onto their UnSub. The killer and her kidnapper had to be one in the same. The odds that there were two nutcases operating at the same time in the same national park had to astronomical. _If Reid was here he could tell me the exact number down to the decimal point._

The team. Emily stared morosely out at the darkening woods and absent-mindedly resumed tugging at the restraints. Derek must be beside himself with worry. He is probably kicking himself for suggesting that they split up to look around. If he hadn't, she would have and she still would have ended up in the same predicament. By now Hotch and the rest of the team had joined him and were searching for her. They were going to have a hell of time trying to find her. This guy was good. Too damn good. Emily doubted that he had left a trail, even when he was carrying her. He had slipped in, grabbed her and slipped back out without disturbing a leaf. He must be very familiar with this park. With no tracks to follow, the search parties would have no idea which direction he had headed in.

The one thing Emily couldn't wrap her mind around was how did he know they would be there? She had difficulty believing that he was just hanging around an old dumpsite that had been discovered. He had been laying in wait for them, hoping to catch her alone and she had walked right into it. She went back to her original question. How? The only person who knew where they were going was Hotch and he wouldn't broadcast that to everyone. Wait! The diner. He must have been there and overheard the two of them talking. But they had been careful, but apparently, not careful enough. So when he had heard their destination, he had hotfooted it up here and waited for her and Derek to show. _But what had I done to garner his unwanted attention?_ That question she had no answer to and she eventually fell asleep trying to figure it out.

* * *

_And that is all she wrote...for this week. Let me know what you think. Reviews are important. They help me know if I am on the right track or creating a snooze of a story. Until next week._


	6. Chapter 5

_Yes I know I'm a little early, but tomorrow is going to be a tad hectic and I was afraid I wouldn't find time to post so here it is. I should be back on schedule next week. __Okay, I hate to bring this up because I'm not a review whore but response to last week's chapter was disappointing. I hit an all time low and it was a downer. Reviews motive me and they let me know if I am on the right track. Lack of response can make a writer feel like you don't like it and I really hope I'm wrong on that. Now I am going to get off my soap box, shut up and never mention it again. __Now go read and enjoy._

* * *

Derek looked up at the sky, watching the morning sun caress the top of the trees. Dawn was coming and soon the woods would be teeming with volunteers looking for Emily. With a sigh, he shrugged of the blanket he had found in the back of the SUV and knelt to extinguish the remains of the campfire. He hadn't built the fire to keep warm, it had been a mild night, but as a beacon of hope. He had hoped against all odds that Emily would see the light, allowing it to guide her home. It didn't work.

With another sigh, he folded up the blanket and returned it to the back of the SUV. There he snagged one of the granola bars the rangers had given him, sat down on the bumper and stared morosely off into the distance, slowing chewing but not tasting it. It had been a long night and he had gotten very little sleep. He had mainly dozed, but every time he heard a noise, Derek would jump to his feet thinking it was Emily. Disappointment would replace joy and he would sink back down on the log he was using as a chair and start the whole process again.

But he hadn't been alone all night. His Baby Girl had given up a couple of hours of sleep to keep him company. As Derek took another bite, he thought about their conversation. Somehow she always kept him grounded.

"_Hey," he said into the phone._

"_Hey," Penelope's soft voice came over the line. "How are you doing?"_

_Derek leaned his head against the car door. "All right, given the circumstances."_

_She heard the sadness in his voice and could picture it reflecting in his eyes. Her chocolate Adonis sounded like he was carrying the weight of the world on his broad shoulders. "Tell me what happened."_

_He quickly brought her up to speed on everything he and Emily had done since they had left the ranger's station. He finished by saying, "I really screwed up, Baby Girl."_

"_Stop kicking yourself over nothing, Snookums," she said, surprising him. He had thought for sure she would agree with him. _

"_Over nothing?" he about shouted into the phone. "I'm the one who suggested we split up. And look what happened. The bastard kidnapped Emily."_

"_I know but if you hadn't suggested it, then in all likelihood, Emily would have done so and the said bastard would have still taken our Em. You two think alike which can be real scary at times," Penelope explained with an air of calmness._

_Derek huffed. "I still should have known."_

_She laughed, making him frown at the phone. "Oh, ho, ho! When did you develop the ability to see into the future? If you can then you are in the wrong job. You should form your own team of time cops and stop crimes before in happens."_

"_That's stupid."_

"_It is and so are you," she shot back. "There is no way in hell you would have known the bastard was going to be there. The area you were checking out had a ranking of minus ten on the danger scale. It was just and old crime scene out in the middle of nowhere."_

_Derek sighed. She was right, of course, and he had no trouble admitting it. "You're right."_

"_I love it when you say that," she teased then grew serious. "It was plain bad luck but you need to be like our Emster and lock away the guilt so that you can focus all your energy on finding her. Afterwards, you can apologize and tell her what an idiot you are. You got me?"_

_He chuckled. "I got you loud and clear, Sweet Cheeks. Do you know that you always know the right thing to say?"_

"_I do. That's why I'm the one and only Oracle." This made him smile. "You can't keep doing this," she said, serious again._

"_Doing what?"_

"_Attempting to sleep in the car in the middle of the woods. You won't be any good to Emily if you are too tired."_

"_I know," he said with a sigh. "But not yet. Just talk to me."_

"_About what?"_

"_Anything, Baby Girl. Anything."_

And that's what they did. She talked about anything that popped into her head just keep Derek's mind off of Emily. And it did, for a couple of hours. After she had hung up, his thoughts went back to his missing friend and partner. He was so lost in his reminiscing that he didn't hear the cars approaching. It was only when a pair of boots appeared in his line of sight did he realize that he was no longer alone. He looked up to see Hotch standing in front of him, holding two large cups of coffee.

Hotch offered him one of the cups and said, "Let's get back to work. It's time to find Emily."

* * *

The rat-a-tat-tat of a woodpecker hammering on a dead branch woke Emily the next morning. With a moan she raised her head, the stiff neck protesting. She yawned and slowly began to open her sleep-crusted eyes. She blinked and jerked back, painfully smacking the back of her head on the wall, startled to find someone standing next to her.

Peering curiously at her through limp, blonde hair was a little girl who looked around five or six, though it was hard to tell because she was small and thin. She wore a pair of dirty and torn overalls and a T-shirt that use to be white. Both were in desperate need of a wash, but then, so did the little girl. Clutched tightly to her chest was a tattered teddy bear with a missing ear.

Emily shifted uncomfortably, fully self conscious of how she must appear to the child. Tied hand and foot, tethered to a wall with dried blood on her face and clothes. Discreetly she resumed pulling against the restraints while she put on a friendly face.

"Hi," she said.

The little girl stared at her, saying nothing.

Emily tried again. "My name is Emily. What's yours?"

The girl seemed to be contemplating her question. She reached up to brush the hair out of her eyes that Emily noticed were green.

"You have pretty eyes," Emily told her and was rewarded with a shy smile.

The smile disappeared as quickly as it had appeared. The girl looked down at the top of the teddy bear's head and scuffed one bare foot in the dirt and woodchips.

"Are you going to listen and obey so you don't get punished and sent away?" she asked timidly.

Emily stared, completely at a loss to exactly how to respond to that question. She was saved from answering by her captor. He rounded the corner of the cabin and stopped next to the little girl. He rested a possessive hand on her head. Emily watched her tense under his touch.

"I see my daughter has found you," he said in way of greeting. "Allie, say hello to your new Mommy."

Emily blinked in surprise. Mommy?

"Hello," Allie dutifully repeated what her father had told her to say.

"Do you want her to stay?" he asked her.

Allie looked Emily up and down then nodded.

"Good," he chuckled and tousled her hair. Allie cringed at his affection. "Why don't you go and play? Your 'Mommy' and I have a few things to talk over."

"Okay, Daddy," she said meekly, backing up to leave. She paused and looked back at Emily. "Good mothers listen and obey. Bad ones go away."

She waved shyly then bolted, repeating the rhyme over and over.

Her captor smiled at his daughter's departing back. "Adorable isn't she?"

"Precious," Emily answered. His eyes narrowed at her response.

"So how did you sleep?" he asked mockingly.

"Like a rock. The mountain air was quite refreshing," she shot back.

His smiled faded. "You are quick on the snappy comebacks," he observed.

Emily didn't answer, choosing instead to stare at him in defiance. He met her eyes unwavering then he smiled again. Emily didn't like that look one bit.

"I have something for you so don't go anywhere." He turned and headed for the shed. He paused. "Oh, wait. You can't. You seem to be tied up at the moment," he tossed over his shoulder and disappeared into the building.

Emily had a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach as she listened to him rummaging through the contents of the shed. The urge to flee overwhelmed her and she doubled her attack on the bonds that held her tight. A few minutes later he emerged with a triumphant look on his face. He held a hammer in one hand and something metallic in the other.

"I haven't used these in a long time, but with you I believe I will be needing them." He dangled the heavy shackles in front of her.

Emily blanched. "Now lets not be too hasty here," she said quickly. "I promise I won't try anything."

He studied her intently. "Somehow I don't believe you. I seem to remember a previous escape attempt," he drawled.

That said, he knelt down and seized her legs before she had a chance to draw them in. Emily twisted side-to-side trying to break his grip.

"Settle down!" he snapped, backhanding her across the face. Emily's head whipped to the left and bounced off the wall. The metallic taste of blood filled her mouth from the split lip. She leaned over and spat it out.

Taking advantage of her distraction her captor straddled her legs, effectively pinning them to the ground. With his back to her, he started to untie the knot. Emily made a few halfhearted attempts to extricate them, mainly to show him she still had a lot of fight left in her.

Emily sagged back against the wall, conceding that she was powerless to prevent him from putting her in irons. With his broad back blocking her view, she had to rely on sense of touch to know what he was doing. She felt a few hard tugs on the rope before it fell away, technically freeing her ankles.

"I don't think you're going to need these," he commented, removing her boots and socks.

_Kidnapping 101_, she thought as she probed the split lip with her tongue. _Take the captive's shoes so that she can't run away. Then slap on shackles to really slow her down if she did try. Correction: when not if._

Emily flinched when she felt the cold, hard metal wrap around one ankle. There was some jiggling and the metal clamped down tighter as something was slid into position. She watched him pick up the hammer and raise it. When it fell there was the sound of metal on metal and a stabbing pain shot up her leg as the iron pin locked the shackle in place. He repeated the process with her other foot.

"Done," he said and climbed off her.

Steeling herself, Emily looked down at her feet. Wide, thick bands of metal that were connected to each other by less than a foot of heavy chain encircled both ankles. Well designed to hamper walking and to make running virtually impossible.

"I made them myself," he boasted, admiring his handiwork. "No locks so you don't have to carry a key."

Emily ignored him, already formulating possible way to shed her restraints. So engrossed in her scheming she didn't hear him ordering her to get to her feet. The vicious kick to the hip got her attention.

"I said get up!" he growled. "Don't make me repeat it again."

Emily glared at him. Using the wall as support, she painfully pushed herself to her feet, the muscles that had grown stiff over the night protested the entire time. He made a move toward the ring embedded in the wall. She stepped to one side assuming he wanted to untie her leash.

She was wrong. He seized her by the shoulders, spun her, and slammed her into the side of the cabin, giving her another bloody nose. With one hand tangled in her hair, he used the other to grasp her bound wrists and pushed them up toward her shoulders. Emily was forced to stand on tiptoe to ease the pressure and tried not to squirm.

"There are a few ground rules," he hissed in her ear. He gave her wrists a sharp jerk. Emily bit back a cry of pain.

"Rule one. You are to speak only when you are spoken to. Rule two. You will obey all orders without question or complaint. Three. You will address me as 'Sir'. If you violate any of those rules you will be punished and your punishment will also be Allie's."

Emily's eyes widen in shock and she strained to see him. "You would hurt your own daughter just…" she trailed off when he applied more pressure sending pain radiating through her shoulders. This time she could not suppress a small whimper.

He leaned heavily against her. "What was rule one?" he demanded.

Emily closed her eyes and said through clenched teeth. "Never speak unless spoken to."

He gave her wrists a savage twist. "And?"

"Sir."

He smiled wickedly. "That's better. You are already learning. Do you know what is expected of you?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Good." He let go of her and turned her around to look at her directly in the eyes. He pulled out his knife and menaced her with it.

"I have no interest in you personally. I have brought you here for the sole purpose of being a mother to my daughter." He used the edge of the knife to wipe away some of the blood running from her nose and split lip off her chin. "If you fail to live up to my expectations I will kill you and return you to your friends in pieces. Understand?"

Emily gritted her teeth. "Understood. Sir!"

He glanced sharply at her. Emily looked blandly back. She had done exactly what he had told her to do, but it sounded like she was being disrespectful. He shrugged it off. She was under his control so it didn't really matter. But as a precaution he would have a little chat with her about her tone of voice.

He untied the rope from the iron ring. "Come along," he commanded pulling it.

Emily stumbled forward a few steps, throw off by the heavy weight hampering her movement. He chuckled at her discomfort and walked quickly to the front of the cabin forcing Emily to shuffle as fast as she could in the restraints. Without a backwards glance he led her inside.

Emily looked quickly around especially at the windows, thinking it may be a possible escape route. Her hopes were dashed when she saw the bars. From what she could see there was only one way in or out of the cabin, through the door that he probably kept under lock and key. The paddock hanging next to it confirmed her suspicions.

Her captor slid his hand up the rope until it reached the noose. Grasping it firmly, he dragged Emily over to the far right corner of the cabin and flung her down on the bare mattress lying there. This time Emily was better prepared, managing to twist her body so that her shoulder took the brunt of the fall and not her battered nose.

"This is where you will be sleeping," he told her. Emily looked at the mattress, the ratty pillow, the moth eaten blanket and repressed a shudder, wondering how bug infested they were.

"Now get on your stomach," he ordered, eyes glaring.

Emily thought about refusing then remembered his threat against his daughter. No way would she allow her actions to bring any harm to that little girl. He knew he had her trapped between a rock and a hard place and she hated him for putting her there.

Swallowing her pride, Emily rolled on to her stomach without protest. Behind her he grinned in triumph, pleased at her progress. Oh, her spirit wasn't broken, not by a long shot but with firm discipline and a few subtle reminders she will be bowing to his every whim.

Stepping up to her prone body, he placed a foot in the small of her back to pin her down. He then bent over and removed the ropes binding her wrists and the noose from around her neck. For fun he pushed down harder on her back before releasing her.

Emily couldn't help but groan when her arms were free. As they fell to her sides, pain shot through her shoulders as they returned to their natural position after long hours of being pulled back. Slowly she sat up massaging her rope burned wrists.

"Take off the jacket. You're not going to need it."

Emily glanced up at him then did as she was told. With trembling arms she struggled to get the pullover over her head. Growing impatient with her, he grabbed it and tugged it the rest of the way off, leaving her clad in a light gray turtleneck. The force pulled her forward and she braced both hands on the floor to stop from tumbling.

After tossing the jacket and ropes off to one side he pointed to the kitchenette on the opposite wall. "Go wash your face, it's covered with blood."

_Well duh_, she thought as she climbed to her feet and walked as fast as the leg irons would allow to the sink. _My face wouldn't be a bloody mess if you weren't so busy slamming it into the ground and walls._

Upon reaching the cast iron sink, she snatched up the nearest rag and used the hand pump to wet it. Not finding a mirror conveniently lying around, Emily resorted to using the reflective surface of a dented coffee pot. She was not pleased with her appearance. Her lip was puffy where his hand had split it. There was a cut on the bridge of her nose and bruising under both eyes.

"Get a move on it!" he shouted from across the room.

Emily clenched the bloody rag in one tight fist. She could feel her anger rising and knew she had to quell it before it got her into more trouble. To force herself to calm down, she carefully rinsed the rag out and laid it on the edge of the sink to dry. She took a couple steadying breaths before turning and hobbling back over to him.

He smirked at her when she stopped before him. "That didn't seem to help much."

Emily held her tongue and gazed at him with disinterest.

"Now face the wall, put your hands on your head and kneel." When she hesitated he caressed the knife on his belt. "Do it," he said in a low voice.

Emily complied and knelt down on the mattress. With fingers interlaced, she stared at the wall, her mouth set in a grim line. From behind she heard rattling that was followed by a sharp click. She nearly jumped when he spoke in her ear.

"Can't have you jumping me the moment my back is turned. I know you are thinking it." He then chuckled and she felt him move away. She tensed waiting for the blow to fall.

Instead he surprised her by saying, "Stand up and slowly turn around. Hands stay where they are. Understand?"

"Understood, Sir," she said flatly.

Awkwardly she regained her feet, hands firmly on her head. As she turned she immediately noticed that the shackles felt heavier. Emily glanced down to discover she was now tethered to a ring anchored at the foot of the mattress by a short length of chain. When she looked back up, he abruptly surged forward and gut punched her. Her legs buckled as her breath left in a loud whoosh. She crashed to her knees, arms wrapped around her mid section, hunched over in pain.

He towered over her, hands clenched, enjoying watching her gasp for air. "That was just a little reminder for you to be more respectful when addressing me."

The events of the past twenty-four hours caught up with her. The combinations of the blow, the poor sleep, the lack of food and water and the lingering side effects of the two doses of tranquilizers caused her stomach to churn. Emily threw up, barely missing his scuffed up boots. Making a sound of disgust he hopped back, staring at the mess on the floor.

"Damn it!" he swore and stamped angrily over to the sink. Cursing under his breath, he filled a pail and snatched up the wet rag. He marched back and slammed the pail into the floor with such force that water sloshed over the side. "Clean it up!" he growled.

Emily winced at his tone. As she continued to struggle to breath, she reached for the rag with a shaking hand while the other remained wrapped her middle. Through watering eyes she mopped up her own vomit. On the final swipe, she dropped the dirty rag in the pail and rolled on to her side. Closing her eyes she curled into a tight ball.

Pushing the pail to one side with his foot, he reached down to grab a fistful of her hair. He jerked on it, forcing her to look at him, reveling in seeing the pain in her eyes.

"I have chores to do so I recommend you use this time to consider a serious adjustment to your attitude."

He let go and she curled up tighter. Whistling a happy tune he picked up the pail and went outside, leaving Emily chained and alone with her pain.

* * *

_Well, well, well. He has a daughter and wants Emily to play Mommy. Let me know what you think and see you next week._


	7. Chapter 6

_Welcome back everyone. First, a big shout out to the great response I got for last week's chapter. Made me happy to know that you are enjoying the story and it motivates me to keep writing. Now let's check in and see how Emily is doing._

* * *

"Lets get started," Dave said, the moment he, JJ and Reid stepped into the ranger station. The three sat down at the table and he handed out the assignments. "Reid, keep going through the missing reports. Look for women who have similar characteristics to Prentiss. Something about her captured our UnSub's attention and if we can figure that out, we may find out that some of our victims share it."

Reid nodded. "On it," he said and dived into the piles of files with abandon.

"What should I do?" JJ asked.

"You and I will focus on the UnSub. Prentiss was correct earlier. Our guy is a local. Lets get Garcia on the line."

"Sure," JJ said. She picked up her phone and punched in the speed dial number for the team's direct line to the technical analyst. As soon as she picked up, JJ put her on speaker.

"_Kneel before the mighty Oracle and speak your question,"_ came Penelope's bubbly voice.

Dave rolled his eyes heavenward before answering while JJ silently laughed. Reid was oblivious, happily engrossed in his paper trail. "Garcia, we need you to do two things. First, run a deep background check on all the male rangers at this station."

"You got it. I'll go so deep, I'll be able to tell you if they wear boxers or briefs and in what color."

"We don't have to go that far," JJ objected.

"_Party pooper,"_ Penelope said. _"And the second?"_

"Pull up a list of every man who grew up and still lives in the Rochester area. Our UnSub is very familiar with this park." Dave paused and rubbed his goatee thoughtfully. "Hold on a second. Expand the search to the neighboring towns. Reid, what are their names," he asked the young man.

"Hancock, Robinson and Stockbridge," he answered without looking up from the file he was perusing.

"You got that, Garcia?" Dave asked.

"_Yup. This is going to take awhile, my amigos. I'll call as soon as I get anything."_

"We'll be waiting."

They heard her pause. They knew Penelope was using humor to hide her worry about Emily and they waited patiently for her to ask the question. _"Umm…any news on our Emily?"_

Dave sighed. "None so far. Hotch is on his way to meet up with Morgan and the search teams. You'll be the first we'll call when we hear anything."

"_I'll hold you to it. Garcia out."_

JJ turned to Dave after Penelope hung up. "You think he might be a commuter?"

He shrugged. "It's a possibility. I'm sure this area isn't jumping with a lot of job opportunities."

JJ nodded. "That makes sense. What should we do while Garcia compiles her lists?"

Dave grabbed his jacket off the back of the chair. "Lets go canvas the diner Morgan and Prentiss had lunch at. Maybe the wait staff saw something."

* * *

Emily didn't know how long she had lain there unmoving. It could have been mere minutes or hours. The only thing she knew for certain was that her stomach felt like it was on fire. But as time passed the pain started to ebb. When it no longer seemed unbearable, she rolled to her knees and crawled on to the mattress where she leaned back against the wall and closed her eyes.

An odd sound caught her attention. At first she thought it was the noise the chains made whenever she shifted her feet. But then she realized that they would rattle. This was more like a whisper of cloth. Fearing that her captor was returning, Emily's eyes snapped open, only to find his daughter standing there.

Allie stood a few feet away watching her anxiously. She clutched the stuffed bear tightly to her chest while furiously sucking on her thumb. Emily was instantly worried. How long had she been there? Did she witness the entire ugly exchange Emily had with her father? She hoped not, but her gut told her that the little girl had. Thumb sucking at this age generally was an indication of anxiety.

"Oh, Allie," she said softly. "I'm so sorry you had to see that."

The little girl continued to stare at her. She took her thumb out of her mouth to quietly ask Emily the same question she had asked before. "Are you going to listen and obey so you don't get punished and sent away?"

"I'm trying, honey," she honestly told the little girl. "I really am."

The little girl's face remained expressionless as she stuck her thumb back in her mouth. Emily couldn't tell if Allie believed her and she didn't blame the child one bit. After all, how many women before Emily had her crazy father had dragged here to be her new 'mother'? And then when she had grown attached to them he made them disappear. No wonder the little girl was so hesitant to trust her. The grownups kept letting her down.

That wary little girl shifting from foot to foot reminded Emily of someone from long ago. Herself.

"Hey, Allie-gator," Emily said softly, the nickname just tripping off the tip of her tongue. The child smiled a little around her thumb. Emily took that as a sign to continue.

"I know you don't trust me. You think I am going to leave you just like the other mothers your father brought home. But I'm not like them, honey."

When Emily shifted on the mattress to find a more comfortable position, her chains rattled, startling the girl. Her eyes widen in fright and she took a few steps back toward the door.

Holding out a hand, Emily pleaded, "Please don't go. I promise you I won't leave you. If I have to, I will take you with me."

Emily meant every word she spoke. The moment she found her opportunity to escape, she was going to take it. And there was no way in hell she was going to leave this innocent child in the hands of her deranged father.

She smiled kindly. "In the meantime I would really like to be your friend. Would you like to be mine?"

Allie continued to stare at Emily as if she was thinking it over. Slowly she took her thumb out of her mouth. Suddenly she spun on her heels and bolted for the door. Shoving it open with both hands the little girl vanished outside.

When the door slammed shut Emily swore, "Damn it!" She almost had her. How can she protect Allie if she can't get near her?

* * *

Emily waited for a while hoping Allie would return so that she could continue talking to her and gaining her trust. When that didn't happen, she turned her attention to her restraints. She started first with the shackles and ran her hands over the rough metal. She was hoping that her captor had been taunting her about there not being any locks on them. If there were any she could probably pick them but her probing fingers found none. The shackles were crudely made and used an iron pin to lock them in place. The only way she could get them off was if she could get her hands on a hammer or a pair of pliers, but she doubted he would let her near any object that could be used as a weapon.

Next she tested the chain between the metal bands, searching for a weak link. It was solid. Emily repeated the process with the chain that tethered her to the ring set in the floor and found it just as unbreakable as the first. After letting out a growl of frustration she switched her focus to the iron ring. Not surprisingly it was bolted to the floor and none of the screws were loose.

There was only one thing left to check. Where the chain was connected to the shackles. They were held together with a sturdy padlock but it was something she could pick. Emily tore apart her small corner of her cabin searching for anything she could use as a lock pick. She frisked the pillow, shook out the blanket and examined every inch of both sides of the mattress and the floor beneath it. Not one scrap of metal was to be found.

Emily sank back down in dejection. Obviously last night, while she had been trussed up hand and foot outside, her captor had gleefully escape-proofed the inside of the cabin. He knew she would try and had made sure that there was nothing within her reach that she could use. She hated that he has been one step in front of her the entire time and he knew it. But his arrogance was going to be his downfall. It simply meant that she had to think out of the box and do something he had not anticipated for she doubted he had met a woman like her before. After all she was a highly trained federal agent and a profiler and he was not.

The sound of hinges creaking froze Emily in place. Slowly she turned her eyes towards the door while holding her breath, unsure of who might be entering. She let it out when Allie cautiously poked her head in. Seeing that Emily was where she had left her, the little girl came all the way in and sidled along the kitchen cabinets, her teddy bear held protectively in front of her like a shield.

Allie inched over to the curtain that Emily surmised must separate the sleeping quarters from the rest of the cabin. She ducked through it and Emily could hear her rummaging around. Minutes later she reemerged holding something behind her back. Allie warily approached.

Emily gave her an encouraging smile. "Hi, Allie-gator," she said, making sure she used the nickname. The little girl seemed to like it. "I'm glad you came back."

Allie rewarded Emily with a small, shy smile. She looked down at one bare foot, drawing circles on the floor with it as she mulled something over in her head. Emily waited patiently. Allie brought her eyes up and studied the older woman through a veil of dirty, lank blonde hair. Abruptly she darted forward, flung a thin, yellow object into Emily's lap and retreated.

Emily picked it up. It was a tattered, soft cover children's book. She flipped it over to read the title and smiled. "Curious George. He's one of my favorites when I was a kid. Is he yours?"

"Yes," she said, speaking so softly Emily barely heard her.

"Do you want me to read it to you?" Emily asked hopefully.

Allie nodded and plopped cross-legged on the floor well out of Emily's reach. She adjusted the teddy bear in her lap so that it could hear too. Emily smiled to herself, pleased that she hadn't blown it earlier and was now making some progress. Opening the book to the first page, she held it up so that Allie could see the illustrations and started to read.

* * *

The book reading went on for several hours. Allie insisted that Emily read the book over and over. After the sixth time through Emily was getting real sick of hearing about the monkey's adventures. But every time she thought she was finished the little girl would point at the book and say again.

When they finished it for the eighth time the child said, "No more."

_Oh thank god,_ Emily thought. "You don't want me to read it again?" she asked.

Allie shook her head then bounded to her feet and dashed back behind the curtain. She left the one-eared teddy bear on guard duty to make sure Emily didn't do anything funny until she returned. A minute later she came back and cautiously approached. Emily sat still waiting to see what she was going to do. Allie dumped four more books in her lap and returned to her seat next to the bear.

Emily spread out the books. "Which one do you want me to read next, Allie-gator?" she asked, hoping to get the little girl talking.

Allie gave the selection a careful look over. Finally she pointed to the second book from the left and said, "Morris goes to school."

"Okay," Emily said with a nod and started reading.

The second book went on like the first. Emily had to read it eight times before moving on to the next title. The process was repeated for 'Harold and the Purple Crayon', 'Harry the Dog' and 'Bear Party'.

The sound of heavy boots outside the door shattered the sense of normalcy that had settled over the small cabin. Emily's voice froze in mid sentence and Allie shot to her feet, pressing her back to the wall with the stuffed bear clutched to her chest.

The man paused in the doorway taking in everything. His eyes swept over his daughter's tense form, to the look of impassivity on his captive and down to the pile of books stacked next to her.

He smiled a smile that did not reach his eyes. "I see the two of you are getting acquainted."

"Yes, Sir, we are," Emily answered looking him directly in the eye. "Your daughter seems to love books."

_She's still defiant._ "OUR daughter," he stressed.

"You're right, Sir. Our daughter likes books," she corrected herself, trying not to choke on the words.

He chuckled and sat the pail on the kitchen counter. "So tell me, EMILY, do you know how to cook?"

Emily bristled at the way he used her name with familiarity but kept it from showing. She wanted to earn Allie's trust and she couldn't do that by butting heads with the father in front of her. Earn the girl's trust and her father might let down his guard enough for her and Allie to escape. For now she had to play along and that would be easy to do. All she had to do was to fall back on her undercover training.

"I'm passable, Sir," she said.

He studied her for any deception. He didn't see any signs of it but knew that she was quite capable of it. He decided to err on the side of caution until he had completely broken her.

He smirked. "I think I will pass for now. I wouldn't put it past you to try and tamper with my meal. I'll wait until you are more compliant."

_You mean broken and submissive, _Emily thought grimly. _That's not going to happen if I can help it. _She remained silent since he had not asked her a direct question.

He chuckled evilly and turned his back on her, ignoring his captive to start dinner. With him no longer focused on Emily, she was able to turn her attention back to Allie. The little girl hadn't moved an inch from the wall; the stuffed bear still tucked snuggly against her small chest. Her eyes were glued on her father and she had started to suck on her thumb. The poor girl was so stressed that Emily wondered if there was any way she could help her relieve it.

Unconsciously Emily shifted on the thin mattress in an attempt to find a more comfortable position and her knee bumped the stack of books. As she glanced down at them, she knew what to do. Even though she wasn't supposed to talk unless spoken to, she hoped it didn't apply to the daughter. Emily kept one eye on her captor as she spoke up. "Allie, you need to put your books away before dinner."

The little girl looked at her then over at her father. He gave no indication that he had heard, stirring the contents of the pot on the wood-burning stove. She pushed off the wall and slowly approached the brunette. Emily smiled encouragingly as she pushed the stack of books forward. Then, with a loud rattling of the chain, she pulled her knees up to her chest to wrap her arms around them, creating a safe distance between the two of them.

Allie hesitated then scooted forward to snatch up the books. She spun on her heels and vanished behind the curtain. For a moment Emily thought she wasn't going to reappear then her blonde head poked through the seam. She sidled out and resumed her spot against the wall. There was one difference Emily noted; she was no longer sucking her thumb. The little girl looked to her for more guidance.

Since he didn't react to her speaking to his daughter Emily decided to push on. Obviously he was testing Allie to see if she would listen to her new 'mother'. If she was disrespectful then Emily would be dead, all the blame would fall squarely on her shoulders for failing to win over the daughter.

She turned her eyes to the little girl. "Allie, please help your father out by setting the table," Emily suggested, trying to sound maternal.

Allie eyed her then nodded her head. "Okay," she lisped and Emily let out a mental sigh of relief. She had listened. Apparently the time they had spent reading had been well worth the effort, it had fostered a tentative level of trust between the two of them.

The little girl went up to the wooden table and set the teddy bear on the corner, making sure he was facing Emily so that he could continue his sentry duty. Grasping one of the chairs, she dragged it over to the kitchen counter. She climbed on to it and opened the upper cabinet that held the dishes.

"Plates or bowls," she asked her father.

He never turned to look at her. "Bowls."

She grabbed three, hopped down and arranged them on the table. Then she returned to the chair, pushed it over one cabinet and got down three mismatched glasses. Carefully she filled each with water and carried them over to the table, setting each in its proper place. Next she retrieved three spoons and laid them next to the bowls. Finally she returned the chair to where she had found it and sat down. Allie smiled shyly at Emily who nodded her approval of a job well done.

A few minutes later her father turned away from the woodstove and carried the steaming pot of stew over to the table. He ladled large servings into two of the bowls and set the pot down on the end of the table with a loud thump. Ignoring his captive and daughter, he tucked into his dinner.

Allie, kneeling on her chair, glanced uneasily between Emily and her father. "Isn't Mommy going to eat?" she asked.

He looked up and the little girl wilted under his steely gaze. Without taking his eyes off her, he reached for the ladle and dumped a serving of stew into the remaining bowl. "You may feed her," he said, making Emily sound like she was the pet dog.

Allie slid of the chair and reached for the bowl and spoon. He slapped his hand down on the utensil, causing her to snatch her hands back in fright. "She can use her fingers or," he leered at Emily, "lap it up like a dog."

Emily knew what he was trying to do. He was trying to rile her, to get her to lose her temper and violate his rules so that he had an excuse to beat her into submission. She had no intention of giving in, of giving him the satisfaction of breaking her. She was stronger than he was.

Allie screwed up her courage and reached for the bowl and picked it up. She hesitated then stretched out her other hand for the glass of water. When he didn't stop her, she pulled it off the table. With the bowl and glass balanced precariously in her arms, she walked gingerly over to Emily, the tip of her tongue sticking out of the corner of her mouth as she concentrated. She stopped just short of the mattress and took great care to set both on the floor without spilling a drop. Then to Emily's surprise, she picked the bowl back up and held it out to her.

"For you, Mommy," she said.

Emily moved slowly in an attempt not to spook the girl. She reached out with one hand to take the bowl. "Thank you, Allie," she said with a soft smile.

This time she blushed. Allie bent down to retrieve the glass of water. Again she held it out and did not flinch away when Emily's fingers brushed against hers. That was a good sign; Emily had managed to gain a little more of the girl's trust. Allie pushed her blonde hair off her face. "Welcome," she said shyly before dashing back to the table to eat her dinner. Her captor watched the entire exchange with a smirk on his face.

Emily looked at the bowl of stew. Her first instinct was not to touch it. She had no clue what was in it and she didn't want to eat anything prepared by his hand. But to get out of this predicament she had to keep her strength up which meant she had to eat whatever he put before her. Her empty stomach rumbled in agreement. It had been over a day and a half since she had eaten or drank anything. Her last meal had been the quick sandwich she had with Derek before heading up to the second crime scene. Unfortunately the remains of that meal she had thrown up when he had punched her in the gut.

Her stomach rumbled again, basically telling her to stop thinking about it and just eat. Emily could feel her captor's eyes on her, watching to see what she would do. It was another one of his tests. He was waiting to see if she would refuse to eat like his previous victims had probably done. And if she did, he would show his dominance by forcing her to do so. Emily raised the bowl to her lips. Looking over its rim she locked eyes with him; his full of loathing, hers impenetrable as stone. He broke eye contact first by winking at her then returning to his meal. Emily swallowed the stew without tasting it.

* * *

_Looks like Emily is beginning to make friends with Allie. Hope it works out for her. Now don't forget to tell me what you think so I can stay motivated. Until next week._


	8. Chapter 7

_Howdy, everyone. Hope ya'll are ready for the next installment. I do want to thank all who reviewed. It prompts me to keep writing. So without further babbling from me, I give it to you. Now go read and enjoy._

* * *

The remainder of the dinner was eaten in silence. Allie kept her eyes glued to the bowl entire time. There was a second helping for everyone except for Emily, not that she minded much. The stew was sitting in her stomach like a brick and she prayed that she could keep it down. Suddenly her captor pushed back from the table and headed in her direction. Inside she tensed at his approach while she willed herself to remain calm on the outside.

"Put your hands on your head," he ordered, fingering the knife on his belt.

Past his shoulder she could see Allie watching wide-eyed, thumb creeping up to her mouth. Emily set the empty water glass on the floor and laced her fingers behind her head.

He knelt and pointed a threatening finger at her. "Try to kick me and I'll break more than just your leg," he said with a glare.

Emily realized he wanted an answer when the glare deepened. "Understood, Sir," she said, stopping herself at the last possible second from grinding her teeth, which would have shown on her face.

He fished a key out of his pocket and unlocked the padlock that connected the chain to her shackles. "Get up," he commanded once he stood.

She did as she was told, keeping her hands where they were since he hadn't said she could move them. He grabbed her by the arm and propelled her forward across the small space. Emily struggled to keep up but the shackles kept tripping her. He shoved her as hard as he could at the table. Emily crashed into with enough force to rattle the dishes, prompting Allie to scramble off her chair in fright. Instinctively she clutched at the table to stay upright.

He came up behind her and poked her in the back. "Clean up," he said in a low voice, literally breathing down her neck.

Emily repressed a shudder and nodded. "Yes, Sir."

Locking the humiliation of being forced to doing a menial task in front of him in one of her many boxes, Emily picked up the pot and shuffled over to the sink. When she turned to get the rest, she found Allie standing next to her with the dishes cradled in her arms. Emily sneaked a peek at her captor to see if this was a violation of one of the many rules she was unaware of but he seemed occupied with lighting the fire in the fireplace.

Emily bent down to take the dishes and spoke quietly to the little girl. "Thank you, Allie-gator, but I think it would be better for you if you went and played with your teddy bear. I don't want you to get in trouble with your father for helping me."

"Okay," she whispered back. The little girl returned to her chair, picked up the bear and soon had him dancing on the tabletop.

Emily smiled tenderly as she trudged by to retrieve the dishes she had used. The clanking of her chains with each shuffling step grated on her ears. Again she silently vowed to continue to find a way to remove her fetters. Until she could, she would be unable to make her escape. She returned to the sink and scrubbed everything clean. Then with a little help from Allie, who silently nodded to the correct cabinets, put them away.

"You finally finished, Emily?" he asked with a condescending sneer.

She schooled her emotions before facing him. "Yes, Sir. I am."

Before she could react, Emily found herself with her back against the wall and his forearm pressed tightly across her throat. Instinctively her hands shot up in an attempt to break his hold, but it was like trying to bend a metal bar. She struggled to breathe.

"Now we have to make sure you didn't pocket anything that can be used as a weapon," he said, getting in her face. "Turn and spread it." He removed his arm but not before patting her on the cheek.

Emily pulled in a deep breath and refrained from rubbing her now sore throat as she slowly turned around. She placed her hands on the wall and spread her legs as wide as the shackles would allow. She stared at a knothole in the log as he frisked her, roughly running his hand over her arms, legs and chest. If he was trying to get a reaction from her, he failed. Emily simply tucked this second humiliation away in the box with the first one.

He cuffed her on the back of her head when he was done. Emily gritted her teeth before turning and looking at him calmly in the eye. "Sir, I need to use the bathroom."

Her captor frowned and shoved her back against the wall. Emily involuntarily grunted from the impact. "Is that the proper way to ask for permission?" he asked in a low voice.

Emily took a deep breath and rephrased her request to sound more submissive. "Sir, may I please use the bathroom?"

He smiled in satisfaction. "That was much better." He looked at his daughter, who was peering over the back of the chair, watching with fear full eyes. "Allie, get that piece of rope," he said, pointing to the corner where he had discarded the ropes he had used to bind Emily with earlier.

Allie slid off the chair, scurried over to the corner to retrieve it and wordlessly handed it over. He didn't even thank his daughter, instead turning his attention back to his captive. "Hold your hands out," he ordered.

Emily's eyes widened with surprise. "Seriously?" slipped out before she could stop it. She was rewarded for her insolence with a sharp backhand to the mouth, reopening the split lip. The blow dropped Emily to her knees.

He stood over her, one hand clenched in a fist. "I warned you about your mouth. "Your hands," he repeated.

Sucking on her bloody lip, Emily thrust her hands out. He wrapped the rope around her wrists, binding them tightly together. He hauled her to her feet by the scruff of her shirt and hustled Emily through the door. He let out a growl of annoyance when, unable to keep up with his fast pace because of the shackles, she stumbled to her knees several times. Normally he enjoyed watching his captives flounder, enjoyed reveling in their fear. But this one was different. She was frustrating, refusing to show him her fear. He had briefly entertained the thought of killing her but he was also one who never backed down from a challenge.

When they reached the outhouse, he gave her one final push. Emily managed to catch herself on the side of the building and stayed on her feet. "You have three minutes and leave the door open," he informed her.

Emily stopped herself from staring at him and nodded instead. "Yes, Sir." She stepped into the small building. She peeked back out and was relieved to see that he had picked a spot where he could keep an eye on the outhouse but not see through the door.

Even with her hands tied, Emily managed to do what she had to do within the time limit. When she stepped out, he grabbed her by the arm with a vise like grip and 'escorted' her back to the cabin. His pace back was slower so she was able to shuffle along without tripping.

"Get in your corner and sit," he told her once they were back inside.

Emily obeyed. Once she was seated on the mattress, he bent down and reattached the chain to her shackles. When she was secured he untied her hands. He towered over her with his arms crossed, smirking. "You've made some progress but you have a long way to go. You've been entertaining so far."

She couldn't help herself. "Glad to be of service, Sir."

He threw back his head and laughed. "I'll let that remark pass for tonight but tomorrow I won't be as lenient." Without a second glance he turned and ignored Emily for the rest of the evening.

* * *

It was pitch black outside by the time Hotch and Derek dragged their tired bodies into the hotel. It hadn't been a successful day on the mountain. As promised the head ranger had everyone assembled at dawn. With skills honed by years of practice, he efficiently organized the teams and assigned to them their search grids.

The two bloodhounds were given whiffs of Emily's shirt. Everyone's hope jumped when they immediately picked up her scent and took off, heading west and dragging their handlers behind them. It quickly faded to disappointment when they reached the small clearing where Derek had found her cell phone. The two dogs milled around with their tails between their tails, whining softly. They had lost the trail.

Widening the search perimeter with the hope that the dogs might pick up her scent again failed. It was like Emily had disappeared into thin air. They hypothesized that she could have been carried out of the area, explaining why the dogs couldn't pick up the trail. But after an extensive search of the immediate area, they couldn't find any tire tracks from an ATV. That meant the kidnapper had to physically carry her out. And he had to be strong and fit, for Emily wasn't a small woman. That little fact hadn't meant anything to the rangers, but it had spoke volumes to Hotch and Derek. They now could narrow down their suspect pool by body type.

The setting of the sun called a halt to the search, sending the volunteers back to their vehicles with their shoulders hunched in defeat. Hotch had managed to persuade Derek to return with him to the hotel. As he climbed in the SUV, Hotch gave the woods one last look, hoping Emily's kidnapper had the common sense not to leave her outside. According to the reports he had heard during the day, it was going to be a cold night.

* * *

Emily leaned against the wall, blanket wrapped around her, gazing at the glowing embers dying in the fireplace. The cabin was dark and quiet. Allie and her father had retreated behind the curtain to their beds a while ago. Emily hoped there was more than one bed in there. The thought of them sharing a bed sent chills running down her spine. Through the thick walls she could barely hear the sounds of the woods nocturnal life. There was the chirping of the insects, an occasional croak from a frog and the rustling of an animal foraging near the foundation. She shivered and pulled the thin blanket tighter around her body, making sure her bare feet were still covered. It was a cool night and she was glad her captor had brought her inside instead of leaving her outside, tied hand and foot, to freeze. Though wearing leg irons and being chained to the floor wasn't much of an improvement but it was warmer.

One of the embers snapped and flared briefly to life. It's dancing flame took her back in time when she was eight and had spent the summer in the French Alps with her grandfather, sitting around the fire listening in awe to his stories of the great war. It had been a wonderful summer and she had tried to go back every year, if not for the entire summer, for a month. Her grandfather was the only person who had shown her that she was worthy of love until Matthew Benton came along. Thoughts of her lack of relationship with her parents, especially her mother, brought Emily back to the present.

Allie's relationship with her father was eerily similar to the one she had with her own mother. While the Ambassador had, on occasion, shown affection and used terms of endearment, her captor hasn't. Emily noted, while she sat chained in the corner, that over the course of the evening he never spoke to his daughter unless he wanted something. Otherwise, Allie played with her stuffed animal by the fire while he sat at the table sharpening the blade of his hatchet. Emily had idly wondered if that was the weapon he had used to dismember his victims bodies.

Only when he was posturing for Emily did he show any kind of affection and the poor girl didn't know what to make of it. Allie cringed at his touch and every time he spoke or talked to her, she would tense up and started sucking on her thumb. The only time she appeared to be relaxed was when her was ignoring her. He was a classic child abuser. He abused Allie verbally and emotionally. Emily wasn't sure at the time if he was also physically abusing her; Allie hasn't allowed her to get close enough to check. Emily vowed to find a way to get her out.

She ran her tentative profile of her captor through her mind. In addition to being a child abuser, he was an alpha male and proudly displayed his dominance over his captives. He preferred his victims to be weak so that it was easier to mentally beat them into submission. When he runs into a woman who is stronger, like her, he resorts to physical violence to aid in breaking her. Emily had a feeling that she was his first that had fought back and it had him a little off balance. That was why he kept testing her, looking for any cracks he could exploit. She smiled to herself. He wasn't going to find any. She wasn't called the queen of compartmentalization by the team for nothing.

Emily sighed deeply. She had a good idea what he was aiming for. He wanted the perfect family; the devoted father, the docile mother and the adoring daughter. And when he realizes that it is unattainable, he finds fault in the woman he has kidnapped to play the part and kills her. Then he starts over. Emily couldn't let it get that far. Tomorrow she would ease up a little and let him believe she was beginning to break. Just enough to convince him to take the shackles off and then she would make her move.

The last ember in the hearth faded, allowing the darkness to engulf the cabin. Emily took it as a sign that she should try to get some rest. With the blanket still wrapped snuggly around her, she lay down and rolled on to her side. Emily curled into a tight ball to conserve heat and fell into an uneasy sleep.

* * *

A sharp kick to the ribs woke Emily the next morning. "This is you're wake up call," her captor taunted. She grunted in pain and sat up, fully awake. He jerked back the blanket to expose her shackled feet and unlocked the padlock. "I need wood for the stove and fireplace. You have five minutes. Don't disappoint me." He flicked his eyes at Allie who was peeking through the curtain from their bedroom.

Emily got the veiled threat. If she didn't return within the time frame with an armload of wood, he would do something to his daughter. "Yes, Sir," she responded as she climbed to her feet.

Without a second glance, she shuffled past him to the door. The brisk mountain air assaulted her the moment she stepped outside, sending goose bumps up her arms. Instinctively she wrapped them around her body, her jeans and turtleneck did little to ward off the chill. The cold was already seeping into her body through her bare feet. She paused on the threshold, eyes flickering from the closed door to the woods beyond.

Freedom beckoned her, she could feel it in her bones and she almost succumbed to its call. But Emily resisted. The shackles would slow her down, allowing him to easily catch up with her. Only this time he wouldn't be as lenient. He would kill her or beat her to within an inch of her life. Either way would leave Allie in his clutches and she wouldn't be in any condition to help. She sighed deeply. Now was not the time.

Emily swallowed the bitter taste of defeat, knowing she was participating in another one of his damn tests. Keeping one hand on the wall, she hobbled as quickly as she could around the corner and into the lean-to. She loaded her arms with firewood and headed back. When she reentered the cabin, he was sitting at the table casually cleaning his fingernails with the tip of his knife.

"Nicely done, EMILY," he smirked, not looking up from his nails.

"Thank you, Sir," she got out without grinding her teeth. She reminded herself to stick to her plan and appear be a bit submissive today. "Where would you like me to put it, Sir?"

"Half by the fireplace and half by the woodstove," he ordered.

She nodded and did as she was ordered. As she set the last of the wood down on the hearth, Emily reined in the urge to pick up one of the logs and bash his face in; anything to get rid of that annoying smirk. The only thing that would accomplish would be the brief moment of sheer joy she felt before he killed her. She straightened and turned back to him, remaining silent.

He studied her, mentally approving of the small change in her attitude. She was now obeying his simple rules and not mouthing off like she had the previous days. It was a small step in the right direction to his total domination of her but she still had a long way to go. Her responses weren't natural. She still thought before she spoke, grudgingly doing it to avoid punishment. But with a firm hand, he will have her eagerly doing his bidding without a thought.

The smirk returned. "Go to your corner."

Emily looked at him and then let her eyes slide to the floor. She hobbled back to the mattress and sat down with her back against the wall. She rested her arms casually on her drawn up knees and stared at her feet.

He stood up, tossed a log into the woodstove and lit it. As he turned, he deliberately glared at her, testing to see if she would flinch under his intense gaze. But his captive kept her eyes on the floor, yet he sensed she was watching him. "Make your bed. I can't stand a messy bed."

Emily didn't have much of a bed to make. It was just a bare mattress, a thin blanket and a lumpy pillow. So she silently folded the blanket and set it on top of the pillow at the head of the mattress. She then resumed staring at the floor.

He chuckled wickedly as he started breakfast. "That's a good girl. And as a reward I will let you remain unchained for now. What do you think of my generosity, EMILY?"

"It's very much appreciated, Sir." She looked up at him briefly.

He paused. When she had looked at him, he wasn't positive if he had seen the flash of anger in those dark brown eyes. It was there one second and gone the next, leaving behind a face devoid of all emotion. Damn, she was puzzling. She was nothing like the other women. He chuckled again as he stirred the contents of the pot. This was going to be an interesting winter.

"Allie, get the bowls," he said in a loud voice.

The little girl's head shot up in surprise. Throughout the whole exchange between her daddy and new mommy, she had been sitting quietly on the floor next to the curtain. The teddy bear sat in her lap and her thumb was in her mouth. Shocked by her father's sudden interest in her, she turned wide eyes to Emily seeking guidance. Emily nodded. Allie reluctantly got to her feet and barely got the bowls on the table before he started to fill them with oatmeal.

Allie picked up the bowl for Emily and let her small hand hover the spoon, remembering how he had reacted last night when she tried to take one. "She may have a spoon this time," he said, focused on his own breakfast.

She scooped up the utensil before he could change his mind. With bowl and spoon in hand, she approached Emily with a great deal more care now that she was no longer chained to the floor. Emily smiled encouragingly and didn't move a muscle until the little girl held out the bowl with the spoon in it.

"Thank you, Sweetie," she said, taking the bowl from her. Emily refused to use the other nickname she had for Allie in front of her father, it was just between the two of them. The girl smiled shyly before going back to eat her breakfast.

The oatmeal went down easier than the stew since she knew what was in it. As she ate, she knew he was going to have her clean up but she wasn't planning on volunteering anytime in the near future. He would have to order her to do so. Her captor did not disappoint her when, a few minutes later, he dumped his spoon into the empty bowl with a clatter and arched an eyebrow at her. "You know what to do."

Suppressing a sigh, Emily got to her feet and picked up the dirty dishes and pot. As she scrubbed, he leaned back in his chair with his boots on the table, grinning from ear to ear watching her doing his bidding. Emily ignored him, automatically washing while she mentally prepared for what was coming next. As soon as she was finished, he came up from behind and gleefully slammed her face first into the wall to conduct his pat down. Emily got her hands up and turned her head so that its side bounced off her arms and not off the unforgiving wood. When he was satisfied that she hadn't pocketed any of the spoons, he gave her his customary cuff to the back of the head indicating that he was done.

"Never hurts to check," he said with a grin when she turned to face him. Emily, for her part, refrained from rubbing the back of her head. He leaned in, studying her face for any sign of weakness. She let her eyes drop causing his grin to widen. He grabbed her arm and shoved her towards the door. "You have three minutes."

She righted herself and looked back in confusion. "Sir?"

"Bathroom break," he said. "And you're wasting time not unless you're eager to find out what happens when you're late," he taunted.

Emily didn't argue. She would take it this way over having to beg him for permission. Freedom once again summoned her when she stepped outside. She chose to ignore it; the conditions had not changed from earlier. She hobbled off to do what she had to do so that she could make it back within the allotted time. Her captor had been right; she had no desire to discover what he would do to her if she were late. To get out of this mess, she had to avoid getting injured in such a way to prevent her from escaping.

She was on her way back when her captor materialized in front of her. Startled, Emily jumped back in surprise, the chain of her shackles rattling loudly. He leered at her and took a menacing step.

"It's time for you to start earning your keep."

* * *

_Uh oh! I wonder what he means by that? Check in next to find out but before you go, don't forget to let me know what you think. Until next week._


	9. Chapter 8

_Welcome back everyone and thanks to those who took the review. It is greatly appreciated. Now lets go find out what our bad guy meant. Enjoy._

* * *

"It's time for you to start earning your keep," he leered.

Emily instinctively took a step back, his remark sending chills down her spine. "Earn my keep, Sir?" she asked, thankful that her voice hadn't cracked in trepidation.

For her one step back, her captor took two and intentionally invaded her personal space. Emily fended off the urge to retreat; refusing to show him how uncomfortable she was now. He pointed at the ground between them. "On your stomach."

When she hesitated, he raised his hand, ready to strike if she refused his order. Emily slowly sank to her knees and then stretched out on to her stomach, the palms of her hands resting lightly on the ground before her.

He straddled her prone body, bent down and possessively rested his large hands on her shoulders. "You're a beautiful woman, Emily," he breathed in her ear as he ran his fingers down her arms.

Emily's breath froze in her throat. For the first time, since her initial kidnapping, she was truly frightened. He had said earlier that he wasn't interested in her sexually, but now she wondered if it had all been a lie. That he was playing with her head and had been waiting for the right moment to forcibly take her. Her hands balled into fists. She wasn't going to let him rape her without a fight. She would fight him with everything she had.

"You're so beautiful," he repeated as he wrapped his fingers around her wrists.

Emily tensed beneath him; ready to strike the moment he released her hands. He surprised her by not letting go. Instead, he violently yanked her arms behind her back, binding her wrists together side by side so that she couldn't bend her elbows. He twisted around and snagged the chain of the shackles. He bent her legs until he could wrap the rest of the rope around her feet, securing her hands snugly against her ankles. Pain immediately shot through her shoulders.

Her captor straightened and took a step back to admire his handiwork. He doubled checked to make sure the knot was safely out of reach of groping fingers then nudged her roughly in the ribs with the toe of one boot. "There are a few things I have get ready in the cabin before we can have our fun," he said with a smirk.

He gazed down at her, relishing in how helpless she looked. _Maybe I should do this more often,_ he mused. _Several hours in the hot sun might break her spirit quicker. _Aloud he said, "Sorry I had to tie you up, but I didn't want you to 'accidentally' wander off while I'm preparing your surprise." He winked. "Actually I not." With a wicked chuckle he sauntered off, leaving Emily hogtied in a prone submissive position.

The second he disappeared from her line of sight, Emily attacked her restraints with a vengeance and was alarmed to discover that she couldn't move. He had used a strict hogtie that she couldn't even roll over on to her side to ease the tension on her limbs. Only her fingers could move, but they were useless when she couldn't reach the knot that could free her from the pain.

A wave of despair washed over her when she realized the vulnerable position she was in. She was unable to defend herself from his advances and that he had absolute control over her. With just the shackles, she could still fight back and escape, but now she was powerless.

The fear of what he has planned for her back in the cabin consumed her and she began to panic and thrashed about, yanking at the rope and struggling to get on her side. But in the end, Emily accomplished nothing but sending pain coursing throughout her body and sapping herself of vital energy. Exhausted, physically and mentally, Emily rested her cheek on the ground and tried to catch her breath for she was finding it difficult to breathe trussed up as she was. If she took slow and shallow breaths, she should be all right and felt herself calming down.

Now if she could only do that with her tumultuous thoughts. Her mind kept bringing to the forefront, every horrific rape and torture she had been witness to since joining the BAU. With each flashing image, she grew more despondent. With her hands tied behind her back, she could only hold him off for a little bit before he overpowered her and have his way with her. Emily squeezed her eyes shut when another bolt of pain shot through her limbs. They were now trembling uncontrollably from being forced into their unnatural positions.

"That looks quite uncomfortable."

Emily's eyes shot open at the sound of his grating voice, finding a pair of scuffed boots filling her vision. She had been so absorbed in her thoughts and pain; she hadn't heard him approach.

"Let me help you with that," he said.

Emily froze when she felt his touch on her hands. She bit back a cry of pain as the rope tightened.

"Oops," he said with glee in his voice. "Turned it the wrong way."

_Yeah, right_, she thought bitterly. _That was intentional, you bastard._ She felt him tugging at the knot and she automatically twisted her bound wrists back and forth, hoping to speed up the process.

"Settle down," he growled through clenched teeth, having difficulty untying the knot with her fighting him. Frustration set it and he bellowed, "Enough!" before punching her in the ear.

Pain erupted in Emily's head, bringing tears to her eyes. The blow stunned her, giving him the opportunity to finish up with the knot. Her numb legs hit the ground with a loud rattle of metal and the pressure on her shoulders eased. Before she could recover, her legs were consumed with a stabbing pain as circulation was restored.

"Get up," he ordered.

Emily tried to roll over on her side but her legs refused to cooperate.

"Get up," he repeated in a flat voice.

"I…I'm trying, Sir," Emily choked out, holding back the groan as the sensation of pins and needles jabbing coursed through her legs.

"Bitch," he muttered and pulled her up by one arm.

Emily managed to get her feet under her, but the moment she put any weight on her legs, they buckled, banging her knees painfully on the hard dirt. Her captor swore under his breath as he hauled her back up and half carried, half dragged her to the cabin.

He paused at the door and then happily slammed Emily into the wall. Without her hands to cushion the blow, she met the wood face first, giving her another bloody nose. He pinned her in place with one large hand on the back of her neck while he slowly ran one finger down her arm. Emily stiffened and glared defiantly over her shoulder, not allowing the fear she was feeling to show in her eyes.

"You're going to have so much fun with what I have planned for you," he said, suddenly releasing the knot and freeing her hands. As they fell to her side, he let go of her neck and pressed his body up against hers.

Emily braced her hands on the wall and tried to push back, but he outweighed her by more than a hundred pounds. He leaned in to whisper in her ear. "Are you ready for your surprise, Emily?"

She swallowed hard and nodded once. "Yes, Sir," she answered with a steady voice.

"Good," he said, smiling as he watched the blood from her nose trickle over her chin and down her neck to stain the already blood stained turtleneck. With a chuckle, he threw open the door, grabbed a fistful of shirt and tossed her inside.

Emily managed to hit the floor in a tuck and rolled, letting out a grunt of pain when her lower back slammed into the leg of the solidly made table. The screeching sound of wood on wood echoed in her ears as the force of the collision knocked it back several inches. He followed her in. Before she could react, he grabbed the chain of her shackles and dragged her around the table, heading for the curtain that separated the sleeping area from the rest of the cabin. Emily twisted on to her stomach, fingers clawing at the wood floor, hoping to latch on to something to stop him from taking her where she didn't want to go.

Suddenly he let go and she was free. Instinctively Emily lashed out with her bare feet, delivering a glancing blow to his calf, buying her enough time to scramble backwards. He chuckled and pounced on her legs, attaching a new chain to the shackles before she was out of reach. The loud click of the padlock snapping closed stopped her in her tracks. Emily stared first in disbelief at the new length of chain that connected her to the ring set in the floor by the bedroom, then up to her captor.

He grinned and spread his arms wide. "Surprise! You now have the ability to freely move about the cabin without my constant supervision." He paused and tapped his finger on his bearded chin thoughtfully. "I think freely was the wrong word. Limited movement sounds better." He kicked the chain. "You have enough chain to do your chores with, but not enough to get outside. It took me awhile to figure out the correct length to confine you with."

He squatted, picked up the chain and reeled her in until he could grab Emily by the front of her blood stained turtleneck. He jerked her forward so that they were face to face. "I never had to do this with the other women. They stayed put when I told them to. You, on the other hand, don't like to take orders. I think you like being difficult so this should keep you in place, knowing that freedom is just outside that door and you can't reach it." To make his point, he tweaked her nose, making it bleed again.

Emily's hand shot up to pinch the soft part of her nose to stop the bleeding. "Now ask me, Emily, what are your chores for today," he ordered with a sneer.

She removed her bloody hand from her nose so that her voice wouldn't come out nasal. "Sir, what are my chores for today?" she asked, looking him briefly in the eyes.

"Good girl," he said, knowing she hated that. "I expect to see when I get back, her completely clean." He pointed to Allie, who had witnessed the entire scene, cowering by the woodstove. "And you scrubbing the floor. I don't want to see a speck of dirt or your blood anywhere. Do you understand?"

"Understood, Sir," she said with a nod. She tried not to choke on the words, hating how subservient she sounded even though it was just an act.

He rose to his full height. "You better got a move on it. You'll never know when I might be back." He curled his lip at her and departed, slamming the cabin door behind him.

* * *

The moment she heard the door close, Emily let out a shuddering breath. _He hadn't tried to rape me._ Her body began to shiver as the adrenaline rush faded. _He didn't rape me,_ she repeated. The shivering grew worse as all the fear and anxiety escaped their mental boxes. Emily squeezed her eyes shut and wrapped her arms around her body to stop it. She couldn't and soon her body was trembling uncontrollably.

"Mommy?" came a frightened little voice.

Emily cracked her eyes open to see Allie staring worriedly at her, sucking her thumb furiously, teddy bear clutched to her chest. "I'm okay, Sweetie," she said, wincing when her voice cracked.

"Daddy hurt you?"

"No, Allie-gator," she answered with a shake of her head. "He scared me more than anything else."

The little girl nodded gravely. "Daddy's scary."

"That he is," Emily agreed with a shaky laugh.

She closed her eyes again and attempted to rein in her wild emotions and plug the holes in her mental walls. He had played her, using the threat of rape to batter her defenses. He finally succeeded to produce enough cracks in her psyche to let the fear slip in and overwhelm her. _Damn him and his damn tests._ She couldn't let that happen again. She had to be smarter than him. Emily took a shuddering breath and slowly let it out. She had to be strong for Allie and not show her how afraid she was. With each calming breath, Emily replaced the missing bricks in her mental walls until they were impregnable. With one last exhale, she felt in total control of her emotions.

"Mommy?"

Emily reopened her eyes to find Allie standing in front of her, holding a soaked, dripping rag. "You hurt," she said, gesturing to Emily's still bleeding nose.

"Thank you," Emily said, taking the rag from the little girl. She wrung it out, not caring about the puddle she made because she would be cleaning it up later, and applied the cool compress. As she pinched the soft part of her nose shut, she hoped the stress she had just been through wouldn't prevent it from clotting quickly.

Allie sat down next to Emily, surprising the older woman since the girl usually kept her distance, and settled the stuffed bear in her lap. "Do they hurt?" she asked out of the blue.

Emily glanced over the rag at her. "Do what hurt?" she asked.

"Them," Allie replied, pointing to the shackles.

"No," Emily lied, keeping the pressure on her nose. "They keep me from running or walking fast." She wasn't going to tell the little girl that with each step the rough metal dug into her ankles, abrading the skin.

"Is that why Daddy is making you wear them?"

Emily lowered the cloth from her nose, looking in surprise at the child. This is the most talkative she has been since they first met yesterday. "Yes," she said, answering the girl's question. "He doesn't want me to run away. He wants me to stay here and be your mommy."

"Do you want to be?" Allie asked in a small voice.

"Do I want to be your mommy?"

The little girl wordlessly nodded.

"I would love to be your mommy," Emily lied for the second time. The last thing this child needed right now was another adult rejecting her.

Allie gave her a shy smile then looked down at the teddy bear's head. "But do you still want to run away?"

Emily ran a finger under her nose to see if the bleeding had stopped as she thought of the best way to answer her question. It was obvious that Allie wanted some reassurance. She glanced at the finger and was relieved to see that it was blood free.

"I do," she said, settling for the truth this time. "As soon as I can lay my hands on a screwdriver or pliers and get these shackles off, I'm gone." She watched her face fall in disappointment. "But I would take you with me."

Allie looked up with wide eyes. "You would?"

Emily nodded with a soft smile. She wanted to brush her fingers along the girl's cheek, but was afraid she would pull away from the touch. "Yes. I can take you somewhere where you can be happy and not be scared of your Daddy."

"Really?"

"Really. But until the right time comes along, this has to stay a secret between the two of us," Emily cautioned. "Can you keep a secret?"

"Yes. I can, I can," Allie said eagerly, bouncing in place at the thought. "And don't worry, Mommy, Edgar won't tell either."

"Edgar?" Emily asked, eyebrows puckering together in puzzlement.

"Edgar," Allie beamed, patting the one-eared teddy bear fondly on his head.

"Ah, so that is his name." Emily reached over to shake one of his paws. "It's a pleasure to meet you Edgar," she said in a formal voice, prompting the little girl to giggle.

She cocked her head to one side. "He says he likes you."

"Well I like him too," Emily said with a smile. Then it faded and her face grew serious. "Remember this secret must remain among the three of us. If your daddy finds out what I am planning, he's going to get angry and take it out on me."

"He'll hurt you," Allie said softly.

"Yeah, he'll hurt me really bad." Emily wasn't sure if Allie knew what exactly happened to the other women when they 'went away'. Did she think they simply left or had her father exposed her to the gruesome act of killing? Emily hoped Allie was still innocent in all ways.

The thought of killing had her wondering what he would do to her if her escape plan failed. He would probably kill her outright. But then, he considered her a challenge and he acted like a man who didn't back down from one. Instead, he could maim her in such a way to prevent another escape attempt. Perhaps break one or both of her legs and then not set them properly so that walking long distances too painful. The image of Kathy Bates gleefully using a sledge hammer to break James Caan's leg in Misery came to mind and she shuddered. She couldn't let either scenario occur, for now she had to continue to play along with his fantasy until an opportunity presented itself.

"Mommy? You okay?"

Emily blinked. She hadn't realized she had zoned out, causing Allie to worry. "I'm fine, Allie-gator. I was just thinking." She gave the child a reassuring smile while silently noting that she was once again sucking her thumb.

"Bout what?"

"That I need to get started on the chores your daddy assigned me. We don't want him to get mad, do we?"

Allie shook her head. "No."

With a resigned sigh, Emily used the table to pull herself to her feet. Then she locked away the humiliation, of being forced to scrub the floor on her hands and knees like a slave, in the box with the others he had heaped upon her. With resolve straightening her back, she focused on the task on hand.

* * *

_That was sort of mean of me making you believe one thing and turning it into something else. I couldn't resist. Now don't forget to let me know what you thought. Feedback makes it easier for me to keep writing. Until next week then._


	10. Chapter 9

_Hi everyone, welcome back. I want to thank those few who reviewed. Thanks for the taking the time to letting me know what you thought. Much appreciated. Here is the next installment so go read and hopefully enjoy._

* * *

The morning got off to a depressing start when Rossi, JJ and Reid learned from the ranger on duty at the station that the search teams had been unsuccessful locating Agent Prentiss. With hearts heavy with worry, the three resumed going over what they had, which was pretty much nothing. It was to their surprise when Hotch walked in and joined them at the table.

"What do we have?" he asked.

"Shouldn't you be on the mountain helping with the search?" JJ asked, her voice ringing with disapproval.

"Head Ranger Daly has everything well under control that I feel useless and I can't abide with standing around doing nothing, so I thought I would check in here first. See what you may have found and fill you in on what we have learned," he said reasonably.

JJ wasn't totally convinced. "And Morgan? Where is he?"

"On his way back up as we speak."

Dave arched an eyebrow. "Are you sure that is wise? Without you there reining him in, Morgan could go off on his own to search for Prentiss."

"Ranger Wood has agreed to partner up with Morgan. He promised not to let him out of his sight or go off half cocked."

"Guess that will have to do," Dave said, also not completely happy with Hotch's choice. But then he wasn't the boss and he shouldn't second-guess his decisions. After all, Hotch knew this team better than he did. He was still working out the team's dynamics.

"So what do we have?" Hotch repeated.

Dave became all business. "Reid has been going through the missing reports looking for commonalities that they might share with Prentiss."

"Did you?" Hotch asked, directing his question at the young agent.

"Nothing really. As we determined before Emily went missing, there wasn't a particular type that was prevalent among them. They are a mixture of young and old, different hair colors, single or married." He paused and held up a finger. "But there was something that was bothering me last night so I want to go back through them."

"Okay."

JJ picked up the commentary. "Rossi and I went over to the diner where Emily and Morgan had lunch. We were hoping the wait staff might have noticed someone paying too much attention to them."

"And?"

She consulted her notebook before tossing it on the table in disgust. "Two of the servers called in sick that day, leaving one to handle the whole crowd. She had been so busy, she couldn't remember waiting on them, even when we showed her their pictures."

"Was she able to tell you who some of the other customers were?"

"No," Dave injected. "She said she was, quote, 'running around like a chicken with its head cut off'. She also said she was damn lucky if she got the orders right."

"We need to make a public appeal, asking those who were at the diner during the time Morgan and Prentiss were there, to contact us."

"Will do," JJ said.

Dave's phone went off and he glanced at the screen. "It's Garcia," he informed everyone. "What did you find?" he asked her when she came on the line.

_"A whole lot of nothing. I fully vetted the ranger staff and there's not a bad apple among them."_

"And the other?"

"Too astronomically long. I need more to whittle it down."

"We're looking for a man who is physically fit. Probably around six foot, muscularly built."

"How did you come up with that?"

"The dogs were only able to follow Prentiss' scent from the car to where Morgan found her phone. We couldn't find any tracks of an ATV so the only way he could have gotten her out was to carry her."

Dave nodded. "It would still be tough to do. Television and books make it sound like it is an easy to carry an adult, especially with a woman of Prentiss' stature."

"At some point he would have to put her down and force her to walk," JJ pointed out.

"That's what I'm hoping for. It would give the dogs another chance to pick up her scent."

_"Okay. I can weed out all the ninety-eight pounds weaklings who get sand kicked in their faces," _Garcia said. Over the line they could hear her pounding away at her keyboard._ "Well, that narrowed it down a bit," _she finally said. "_But its is still an uber long list. Any other suggestions to help narrow this puppy down?"_

"Guys, I think I got something," Reid suddenly announced, sitting straighter in his chair. Everyone looked at him in surprise, having forgotten that he was even there since he had been overly quiet which was unusual for him.

"What did you find?" Hotch was the first to ask.

Reid eagerly spread four files across the table's surface. He gestured to each as he spoke. "Over the past four years, these four women have gone missing in the month of September: Samantha Harris, Hannah Stromberg, Evelyn Franks and Roberta Tomzak."

JJ's eyes widened. "And this is September."

"Yup," Reid said with a grin.

"That's one commonality," Dave observed.

Reid looked around the table. "I have another one," he stated, still grinning like a Cheshire cat.

Dave repressed a sigh. "Spit it out, Reid."

"They were all mothers."

JJ frowned at his revelation. "That might link the four women but not Emily; she's not a mother."

Hotch spoke up. "He must have assumed she was. Morgan told me that on the way back to the station, he and Prentiss literally ran into a little girl who was lost. Prentiss was the one who interacted with the child. Our UnSub probably witnessed it and jumped to the wrong conclusion."

"And when he realizes he is wrong, he could kill her," JJ said with a shudder.

The room fell silent at the sobering thought. Then Dave shook his head. "I don't think so, at least, not right away. There's a reason why he is abducting women in September."

_"Oh," _Garcia exclaimed_. "The body that was recovered at the site where Emily was taken was that of Samantha Harris' husband, Michael."_

"Another piece of the puzzle," Dave mused, drumming his fingers thoughtfully on the table. "But why?"

"Motherhood," Reid reiterated.

Hotch picked up his line of thought. "He wants to start a family and targeted women he thinks would make the perfect wife, ones who are already mothers. And he takes them in the fall when tourism slows down and there is less of chance of someone stumbling over his hiding place."

Dave's eyebrows shot up. "He's hibernating with them."

* * *

Emily's experience with children outside of work was zero. When she was a kid, she had no desire to baby-sit, preferring books over screaming babies. And the time she spent with Declan didn't add up to much. They had played together only while she let Louise handle the taking care of part. But the short amount of time they spent together was enough for him burrow into her heart. So she was totally unprepared for Allie refusing to take a bath even though she knew her father had ordered it. The girl happily helped Emily find everything she needed to prepare the bath: towels, soap, shampoo and the small metal portable tub. It was actually getting in that was the sticking point.

Emily pinched the bridge of her sore nose and did something she never thought she would do. She channeled her mother. She turned and leveled a steely gaze on the little girl. "Young lady! You heard your father, so stop stalling and get in that tub this instance," she said in a voice that brooked no discussion.

Allie blinked in surprise and then nodded. "Okay, Mommy." She sat Edgar on the table and started to strip off her clothes, but not before making Emily turn her back so that she wouldn't see her naked. Emily wasn't sure if it meant she had bruises on her body from being manhandled by her father or if she was simply shy. Within minutes the minor tantrum was forgotten and the child was happily splashing in the water. Eventually she would learn that getting Allie out of the tub would prove to be just as difficult as getting her in.

With the little girl suitably entertained, Emily used the time to test the limits of her bonds and poke around the cabin. She quickly learned she could reach the far corners of the room on her hands and knees and open the door but not be able to step outside. With her access denied, Emily focused her attention on the kitchenette. She limped over and started rooting through the cabinets and drawers that were unlocked and tugging at the ones that were, hoping to break the locks.

"Mommy, what you looking for?"

Emily turned and couldn't help smile. Allie had slicked all the hair on the top of her head into a tall, very lopsided Mohawk. "Anything I can use to get the shackles off," she explained.

"Oh…okay," Allie said and went back to her splashing.

Much to Emily's disappointment, all she found was pots, dishes and glasses. Anything that could be used as a weapon or a tool had been locked away. All she needed was one damn paperclip that she could use to pick the padlock. Once free, she could make her way to the storage shed and find the tools she needed to remove the pin that held the shackles together, but there wasn't one to be found.

Emily blew out a breath of frustration and turned to look at the closed curtain separating the sleeping area from the rest of the cabin. She hobbled over and pushed it to one side. Inside the small space were two narrow, single beds, neatly made up and at the end of both, two military footlockers that he had probably gotten at an army surplus store. Emily was relieved to see that the father and daughter were not sharing a bed so that reduced the odds that he was molesting her but there still was the possibility that it was happening. She wouldn't know for certain until she got the little girl checked by a doctor.

Between the two beds was a nightstand with a kerosene lamp on top and books, that looked like they belonged to Allie, she doubted he even know how to open one, stocked on the shelf below. But what really captured her attention was the gun safe, where he kept his hunting rifles, and probably her Glock, along one wall. She hurried over to see if it was lock even though she knew it would be a wasted effort. And it was. Idly she chewed on a nail as she debated on what to do next and she had to do it quickly, for she wasn't sure when he would be back. There would be hell to pay if he found her not doing her chores.

She settled on a fast but neat toss of the bedroom on the off chance he might have written down the combination and hidden it. If she could get her hands on her weapon, the status quo would shift and she would have the advantage. Sadly Emily's search turned up nothing of interest. She silently cursed her kidnapper for efficiently captive proofing the cabin. She did find under Allie's bed, a box of women's clothing and grabbed a couple of items to change into later, trying to ignore the fact that the previous owner was dead. She also snatched up a clean outfit for Allie and returned to the main room.

"I think its time for you to get out, Allie-gator," Emily said, setting the clothes on the table and picked up the towel.

Allie crossed her arms and pouted. "I want to stay."

"You're turning into a wrinkly prune," Emily observed with a patient smile.

"No!"

Emily's smiled faded and gave the little girl the same look she had used earlier to get her into the tub. "Out." She unfolded the towel and held it out.

"Fine," Allie whined, but refused to get out until Emily turned her head and looked away.

Emily heard the water slosh about as she climbed out. But what surprised her was that Allie didn't take the towel away from her. Instead, she let Emily wrap it around her and dry her off.

"I hope you don't mind that I picked out an outfit for you while I was in the bedroom," Emily said as she ran the towel over the girl's wet hair.

Allie glanced over and grinned. "My horsies."

Emily chuckled. "Guess it was the right choice." She gave Allie's head one more vigorous rub before wrapping the towel snugly around her thin frame. "Now get dressed and if you want, I can comb you hair for her."

The littler girl nodded, scooped up the outfit and disappeared into the bedroom. Within minutes she was back, dressed in jeans and a light green tee shirt with two horses galloping across the front. Shyly she held a comb out to Emily. "Can you do my hair like yours?"

"Sure."

Emily took the comb, pulled out a chair to sit on and gestured for Allie to stand between her knees. The girl grabbed Edgar and did as she was asked. "Do you like horses?" she asked, hoping to distract the girl from what was to come. She wondered as she started combing, when Allie had combed her hair last for it was a mass of snarls.

Allie nodded vigorously and happily launched into a detailed and, at times, convoluted monologue of the horse picture books she had looked through at the library when her father condescended to take her there. Her favorites by far were the ones that were painted or covered in spots.

"Pintos and appaloosas," Emily corrected absently as she worked her fingers and the comb through a particularly nasty snarl.

"Yeah, those. Mommy, do you like horsies?" she asked, biting her lip when Emily accidentally tugged too hard on her hair.

"I do. I use to ride when I was a kid. He was a handsome bay by the name of Bogart," Emily said, smiling fondly at the childhood memory. She had loved the feeling of freedom and flying whenever she had climbed onto his back. It was like they were in their own world.

"Do you still do it?"

"No. Not in a long time." She had stopped when she was fifteen. It had been a bad year for her. When she decided to resume riding at sixteen, she learned her parents had sold Bogart, saying it was getting too expensive to feed and stable a horse that was not being ridden, even though the stable was using him to teach other riders. It was just another example of her parents not caring how their actions affected her. Somewhere in the back of her closet was a box full of ribbons and trophies that her parents didn't see her win because they hadn't bothered to show up.

"When we leave, will you take me riding?"

Emily hesitated briefly then resumed combing. "We'll have to see, Sweetie," she hedged, not wanting to make any promises she couldn't keep.

"Okay," the little girl said with a shrug, apparently satisfied with the answer.

"There," Emily said, sitting back in the chair and admiring the red highlights Allie had in her blonde hair that the washing had brought out. "You're all done and let me say you have beautiful hair."

Allie smiled shyly and stepped from between Emily's knees, taking care not to trip over the shackle's chain. "Can you give Edgar at bath? He's awfully dirty too."

Emily smiled. "Sure, but he'll have to wait a little bit. I have to finish my chores first. Okay?" The girl nodded. "Good. Now why don't you two go out and play."

The little girl didn't have to be asked twice. With Edgar secure in her arms, she dashed to the door and disappeared outside, but not before waving goodbye.

Emily held up her hand. "Bye."

She kept the smile on her face until she was positive Allie was gone. She let it slip as she looked around her prison with despondent eyes. It has been only two days since she was kidnapped, but it felt like a month and she shuddered to think what a week would feel like. _Probably like a death sentence, _she mused. She sighed and shuffled back to dump out the tub so that she could start scrubbing the floor. Emily hated what he was forcing her to do, but until the right opportunity came up, she would have to continue playing along and stay alive.

* * *

_Seems like the team is starting to make some progress in finding her. But will they be in time? That is the million dollar question. So please remember to let know what you think. Otherwise, see you next week._


	11. Chapter 10

_Hello, everyone. Welcome back. Thanks for all the nice reviews. I love getting them. I know you don't want to hear me talk so I will be quiet and let you read. Enjoy._

* * *

Derek and Ranger Red Wood walked side by side through the forest with the other members of this particular search party fanned out around them. Every now and then the mountain air was rent apart by someone calling out Emily's name. Then everyone would fall silent, giving her a chance to answer if she was within earshot. When there was no response, they started all over again.

"So tell me about your partner," Wood suggested, trying to draw the gloomy dark agent out. "When I met her the other day, she seemed very comfortable in the woods."

Derek looked up and gave him a small smile. "She is," he said, making sure he referred to Emily in the present tense. Once or twice he had slipped into past tense and it scared him. It would be like admitting that she was gone for good.

"Her grandfather lived in the French Alps and she visited every summer as a kid. She told me he taught her to respect the mountain and how to live off the land." Derek figured Emily wouldn't mind him repeating that since it was general knowledge amongst the team. Well everyone with the exception of Rossi, who was the newest member.

The ranger let out a low whistle. "The Alps? I always wanted to go there. I heard they are beautiful."

Derek paused to call out Emily's name then sighed in disappointment when all he heard was the echo of his voice. "She says it is."

"Nice." Wood kicked at a rock. "If you are wrong about someone kidnapping Agent…Emily," he remembered at the last minute that she had asked him to call her by her first name so he continued to do so, "and as much as I hate to say it, I hope you are wrong. The thought of a lunatic running through my park preying on unsuspecting women tourists sends chills running up and down my spine."

Derek initially bristled at his words and he restrained himself from grabbing the ranger and shaking him until he took it back. But he could see where Wood was coming from and he couldn't help but agree. "Same here."

"So if she was lost or hurt, or had escaped," he added at the last second, "she would have the survival skills to stay alive until we can find her?"

"Yes."

"Good." Wood took off his hat to wipe his brow. "It's amazing how many people come up here to hike and they don't have the foggiest idea what they are doing. They don't have the right equipment or what to do if they get lost."

The radio on Derek's belt squawked to life. _"Base camp to Agent Morgan. Come in please."_

He snatched it up. "Morgan here."

Head Ranger Daly's voice filled the airwaves. _"One of the search parties with a dog believes they have picked up Agent Prentiss' trail."_

Derek clutched the radio tighter as hope swelled in his chest. Finally after almost two days, they got a possible lead. "Where?" he asked, struggling not to sound impatient.

Daly rattled off the coordinates while Wood imputed them into his GPS. He looked to Derek. "They are due south of us, approximately a half mile."

The dark agent turned back to the radio. "Tell them not to do anything until we get there."

"_Understood. Hopefully this is the break we've been waiting for," _the Head Ranger stated before signing off.

Derek wanted to rush off immediately but had to wait. He fidgeted in place as Ranger Wood informed the rest of their search team where they were heading. Then with a nod, the two men headed south at a steady trot.

* * *

Twenty minutes later, they came upon a group of three men and one woman, all in bright orange vests, standing around a Bloodhound dozing in a patch of the sun. "What did you find?" Derek asked.

The dog handler spoke up. "Bobo here started acting as if he had picked up Agent Prentiss' scent. Before proceeding any further, we had a quick powwow and decided it would be best if you were her since she is your teammate."

"Thank you," Derek said sincerely.

The other man nodded and nudged Bobo with his boot. The dog bounded to his feet, instantly alert and eager to get back to work. The handler opened the bag containing an article of Emily's clothing to let Bobo get a fresh whiff of her scent. They all watched as he put his nose to the ground and sniffed about. He froze then took off, his handler trotting behind. Derek and the Ranger Wood exchanged looks; the dog was heading off in a southeasterly direction like he was planning on returning to the base camp.

After telling the two other men to stay put in case they had to return to this spot, Derek, Wood and the woman hurried to catch up with the dog and handler. Everyone's confidence rose the longer Bobo remained on Emily's scent. Then just like before, the trail went cold.

"Damn!" Derek swore in frustration. He shook his head slowly, not quite believing that it had happened again. Every time he got his hopes up, they were quickly dashed to pieces.

"What should we do now?" the woman asked.

Derek ran a hand over his smooth head and sighed. "Lets fan out and see if Prentiss or our UnSub left us a clue to their whereabouts. If you do find something, give a shout but under no circumstances do you touch it."

"I'll keep circling with Bobo. Maybe he'll pickup up her trail again," the handler suggested.

Everyone nodded and slowly spread out, eyes glued to the ground. Derek swept his eyes back and forth, trying to detect the slightest disturbance in the dirt that might indicate where Emily might have gone. He paused to examine a branch that looked like it had been broken recently. As he rolled it over with his foot, he noticed a discoloring on one end. Derek leaned in closer and blinked in surprise; it was blood.

"Hey, Red," he called out, "Do you have any gloves and evidence bags on you?"

"Sure do." He came over and squatted next to the dark agent, shrugging the backpack off his shoulders. "What did you find?" he asked, unpacking the requested items and handing them over.

Derek pulled on the latex gloves and gingerly picked up the branch. "Blood," he said, pointing one gloved finger at the stain. "We'll get this tested and find out if it is human or animal." He slid the branch into the evidence bag and sealed it. "If it is human, we can get a DNA profile and run it through the system. Hopefully our UnSub has been arrested in the last couple of years."

"What if it turns out to be Emily's?" the ranger inquired as they both straightened.

"Then we'll know that she…" Derek trailed off when he caught a glimmer of light out of the corner of his eye. "Hold on," he said and went over to investigate with Red right on his heels.

"What is it?"

Derek bent down and picked up a watch by one black strap. The buckle was broken and the glass of the watch face was cracked, freezing time at two thirty-seven. It was Emily's favorite. "It's Emily's watch. I would recognize it anywhere and," he squinted at it, "I think there is a partial print on the back. You have another bag?"

"Yup," Red said, retrieving one from the backpack and holding it open so that Derek could drop the watch in.

"Another clue," Derek mumbled to himself. Did Emily drop it on purpose as a breadcrumb or did it fall off in some sort of struggle? He was leaning towards the struggle idea because of the broken clasp.

"Agent Morgan?"

The woman searcher's voice snapped him out of his deliberation. He turned around to see her waving at him. "I think I found something."

Derek and the ranger hurried over and looked down at what she was pointing to. Nestled amongst the leaves was a red cap. Ranger Wood peered closer. "Is that what I think it is?"

"It is," Derek said, holding up the hypodermic needle. This was the final piece of the puzzle; he now had a pretty good idea of what went down. He had to get the items he had collected down the mountain and to the nearest lab so that they could reveal their secrets.

Meanwhile Ranger Wood gestured to the three evidence bags in Derek's hands. "What do these tell us?"

Derek smiled grimly. "Our UnSub got sloppy."

* * *

Emily was sitting at the table, first aid kit next to her, with her feet on the chair, tending to the laceration on her knee. The cut had reopened while she was crawling around on her hands and knees, scrubbing the floor. She hadn't noticed until she started to encounter fresh blood smears. She let it bleed, wanting to finish the chore first so that she wouldn't give him an excuse to make her bleed from more serious injuries than a cut knee. Her captor, in his efficiency, had removed the scissors from the kit, forcing her to use her teeth to rip off pieces of tape. Emily was applying the last piece when the door of the cabin swung open.

Her captor's broad frame filled the doorway as his arrogant eyes swept the room. He took in the clean appearance of his daughter, from the new clothes to her washed hair. He frowned at the ponytail she was sporting that was identical to the one his captive had her hair in, not sure if he liked it. He couldn't help but smirk when Allie began to squirm under his intense gaze, pulling a much cleaner Edgar to her chest, thumb working its way to her mouth. As promised, Emily had given the bear a gentle wash, removing years of grim and changing the color of his fur from muddy brown to light chocolate.

He turned his attention to his captive, who met his eyes briefly before letting hers drop to the floor. He was pleased to see that she had done everything he had ordered her to do. The floor was spotless and she had changed out of the blood stained turtleneck into a white tee with a red corduroy shirt over it. His sharp eyes noted that several items on the countertop were slightly out of place, which meant she had searched the place, looking for a way to escape her restraints, as he knew she would. She thought she was smarter than him, thinking he would be dumb enough to leave anything that could be used as a weapon out for her to get her hands on. Women always thought they were better than men until the same men put them in their proper place and it looked like she needed a little reminder.

With a snort of annoyance, he stormed over to Emily. Before she could react, he seized the chain of her shackles in one big hand and jerked her off the chair, prompting her to hit the back of her head on the hard seat as she went down. "I didn't give you permission to use the furniture," he growled at her.

"I'm…I'm sorry, Sir," she said, trying to blink away the stars she was now seeing. "It won't happen again."

"It better not." He kicked Emily in the side to make his point, smiling when she involuntarily grunted in pain. He bent over and grabbed her by the hair, forcing her to look at him. "I'm disappointed in you, Emily. You missed a couple of spots."

He waited for her to protest that she didn't, that the floor was spotless, giving him the opportunity to punish her for mouthing off. But she didn't. Instead, she simply nodded and asked, "Where, Sir?"

He let go and pointed to the mud he had purposely tracked in. "There."

Emily pushed herself to her feet. "I'll get right on it, Sir." She had recognized the trap he had set out to snare her but she refused to step into it. She hobbled back over to the sink. As she pumped water in the pail, she smiled to herself, recalling the look of irritation that flirted across his face when she didn't argue back.

Silently she cleaned up his muddy footprints then returned the pail to the kitchenette. Purposely she dropped her eyes to the floor before speaking. "Is that better, Sir?"

"Yes," he said without looking. He didn't care if the floor was clean or dirty. All that mattered was that his captive did as she was told. "Now get in your corner."

Emily limped back to the mattress and sat down with her back up against the wall. She pulled her knees up and wrapped her arms casually around them; waiting to see what nasty surprise he had in mind for her next. But he chose to ignore her, treating her as if she was just another piece of furniture in the room. He took off his muddy boots and dumped them next to the door before disappearing into the bedroom, confident that she wouldn't try to jump him even though she was tethered with a much longer chain. The rattling of her chains would tell him that she was on the move.

Jumping him had briefly crossed her mind, but Emily had quickly rejected the idea for the same reason. The chains would be a dead give away and she would have to cross the entire length of the room to reach him. Instead, she turned her attention to the side he had kicked her in. Emily pulled up her shirt and gently ran her fingers over her ribs. They ached but when she took a deep breath, there wasn't a sharp, stabbing pain so they weren't cracked or broken, just bruised. In the morning she was sure she would find a boot size bruise over the ribs.

She had just pulled the shirt back down when her captor reemerged from the bedroom with a cloth wrapped bundle in his hands. He settled at the table and began to unwrap it. "Do you know why I chose you, Emily?"

His question surprised her. She had been watching, rather intently, him undoing the bundle, curious and worried at the same time what was inside. She looked up. "Because you wanted a mother for our daughter, Sir."

He glowered at her. "That is your purpose. I want to know what you think drew my attention to you."

"I don't know, Sir," she answered honestly. She had been wracking her brain for the last two days trying to answer that very question.

"It was your encounter with the little girl on the street that sealed your fate." He unfolded the last corner and Emily's eyes widened. "You were very kind and tender with her. The way you picked her up and comforted her as she cried. I knew then you were a mother. How many children do you have, Emily?"

"I don't have any children, Sir," she answered without thinking, eyes glued on the Smith and Wesson in his hands. She figured he had rifles and her Glock locked in the gun safe but not another handgun.

"You don't?" he asked in a very low voice that set off the alarms in her head. She tore her eyes from the gun and looked into his murderous eyes and realized her mistake. She had just given him a valid reason to kill her.

Emily quickly backtracked, hoping to undo the damage and stay alive. "I don't have any children now," she amended. "But I was pregnant once and I lost the baby."

_Stay as close to the truth as possible,_ she told herself. _Don't tell him you had an abortion._ To her it was the truth. Even though she had chosen to end the pregnancy, it still felt like she had lost a child, lost the opportunity to watch him grow up. Funny, she always thought of the unborn fetus as a boy even though at the time of the abortion it was too early to tell.

A wicked gleam came to his eyes. "Did you plan to try again?"

Emily carefully considered her answer. If she said yes, technically she was inviting him to father a child with her. If she said no, she no longer fit his idea of the perfect mother. She was in another no win situation: rape and eventual death or immediate death. If she chose the first, she would be leaving her own child and Allie with a sadist.

"I did, Sir," she blatantly lied then added a little twist that could keep her alive. "But then the doctor told me I couldn't have any more," she said, letting her voice crack. "I was considering adoption when you brought me here. I love children and I think they all deserve a mother who loves them, Sir." Emily made sure she made eye contact with him.

His eyes flickered from Emily to Allie, who quietly listened to the exchange with wide eyes, as he mulled over her words. Her captor grunted, turned his attention back to his gun and started to clean it, putting an end to the conversation.

Emily released the breath she was holding and briefly closed her eyes. She had dodged the bullet but for how long could she keep the dance going?

* * *

_Whew! Emily did dodge a bullet, didn't she? Well, ya'll come back next and see what is in store for her and the team. But before you go, don't forget to let me know what you think. They are very much appreciated. Until next week._


	12. Chapter 11

_Welcome back everyone. Thanks for the great reviews. So appreciated. Well here is the next installment. More team in this one. Go read and enjoy._

* * *

Everyone was surprised when Derek walked in the ranger station later that night. Judging from the determined look on his face, he had some news he wanted to impart. The only thing they didn't know if it was going to be good or bad.

As usual, Hotch was the first to speak. "What happened?"

Derek sat in the nearest chair and gladly accepted the cup of coffee that JJ had gotten up and poured for him. He took a deep drink before answering. "Our UnSub has gotten careless."

Hotch's eyebrows sank into a frown. "How so?"

The dark agent quickly brought the team up to date on what had transpired on the mountain; temporarily picking up Emily's scent and finding the bloody branch, the broken watch and the hypodermic needle. He wrapped it up by saying, "They are on their way to the nearest lab as we speak. I told them to rush the results to Garcia."

"Good."

"Do you have the coordinates of where the dogs found Emily's trail?" Reid asked, moving over to his map of the national park. Derek reeled off the numbers and Reid carefully plotted it on the map. "And where was it lost?" Again he provided the second set.

Reid stepped back and carefully studied the map, his eyes flickering from the location Emily was taken from to the spot where her scent was lost. "Emily and her kidnapper were heading due west then abruptly changed direction and headed southeast. Why?" he asked, scratching his chin thoughtfully.

"I think Prentiss escaped," Derek said, "and he had to chase her down. I believe he caught her and during the struggle, her watch was broken. One of them, at some point, hit the other with the branch. Eventually he managed to subdue her by injecting her with some type of sedative," he explained, seeing the scene playing out in his mind.

"Forcing him to carry her again which explains why the dog lost her scent for the second time," JJ said.

"Right," Derek agreed with a nod.

"But that puts us back in our original dilemma," Dave pointed out. "We don't know what direction they are headed in."

"The Head Ranger and I came to the same thought. He's moving the base camp to the location where the dog hit on her scent and concentrating most of the search parties west, especially those with dogs. At some point Prentiss would have awaken and he would have made her walk."

"And the dogs will pick up her trail and lead us right to her," JJ said.

"That's what we are hoping will happen." Derek turned his attention to his Unit Chief. "Any luck in discovering who her kidnapper is?"

Hotch shook his head. "No," he said in a frustrated voice.

The team had spent the morning combing through the list Garcia compiled of single, white men, in their thirties or forties with no children who were tall and muscularly built. Once they had narrowed it down to a group of likely suspects, Hotch and Rossi spent the rest of the afternoon interviewing each one and verifying their whereabouts. At the end, the two men had come up with a big, fat zero. Some of the interviewees seemed dodgy but they all had solid alibis for the time of Emily's disappearance.

Meanwhile, JJ had gone before the cameras with her professional mask firmly in place, to make a personal appeal to the people who were in the diner during the timeframe Morgan and Prentiss were there, to contact them as soon as possible. Though she was deeply worried about the welfare of her best friend, she couldn't allow the public to see how truly upset she was.

The response to her entreaty was slow at first, one or two trickling in during the first couple of hours. JJ was disappointed until Reid pointed out that most of the patrons of the diner had probably been on their lunch breaks and wouldn't see her appeal on the news after they got home from work. And he was right. By seven thirty the phones at the ranger station were ringing off the hook. The two were so busy; they barely had time to jot down the name of the caller and the names of the people they had seen there. Of course, they had a couple calls from the local nut jobs but they weren't ignored. They were all duly noted and given to Garcia to be checked out. No lead was left unturned.

By nine, the phones had fallen mostly silent so Hotch decided it was a good time to call it a day. Garcia had already informed them that it was going to take all night for her babies to run the background checks on all the names they had supplied.

"The ranger on duty can handle the phones for the rest of tonight. Any new names that come in, we can run them by Garcia in the morning. We should head back to the hotel and try to get some rest," Hotch declared, straightening the stack of papers in front of him.

Everyone reluctantly nodded and began to clean up. No one wanted to stop but they knew their boss was right. They were all bone tired and bleary eyed from staring at paperwork. Even Rossi lightly joked about needing reading glasses after this was all over, garnering a few chuckles and weary smiles from his new teammates.

Just then a loud crack of thunder rattled the windows of the ranger station, making them all jump. All turned to see heavy rain pelting the glass and the flashes of lightning brightening the night sky.

"That is not good," Dave observed flatly.

JJ turned to him, a questioning look on her face. "What do you mean?"

The older agent gestured to the rivulets of water running down the windowpanes. "The rain is going to wash away the rest of the evidence; any other objects that might have been dropped and any traces left of Prentiss' scent. Tomorrow the search parties are going out there blind."

"Which means the odds of us finding Emily have shrunk exponentially," Reid said glumly.

"Oh," JJ said softly when she got the full meaning of their words. She felt as if one of their nightmares was coming true, that they would never see their teammate again. She turned to see how Derek was handling the news but he was gone.

She found him a few minutes later, sitting on a bench in the reception area, gazing forlornly at the boot in his hand. JJ quietly sat down next to him.

He spoke in a quiet voice. "The first day here, my feet were killing me as we hiked up to the crime scene. Emily teased me about wearing my combat boots and offered to take me shopping for a proper pair of hiking boots."

"And what did you say?" she asked softly.

He chuckled humorlessly. "I said no. I've been shoe shopping with Baby Girl and it is something I have no wish to experience again."

"What did Emily do?"

"She said okay and let the subject the drop." He held up the boot. "The next morning I found these and two pairs of wool socks outside my hotel room door. She had gone back out and bought them for me."

"So that's where she went," JJ said more to herself. She remembered Emily leaving not long after they had returned from dinner. When she had asked her where she was going, Emily had gotten a mysterious glint in her eyes and simply said she had an errand to run. By the time she had come back, JJ had fallen asleep.

Derek looked at her. "Do you know what Emily said when I asked her when did she have time to go shoe shopping?"

JJ smiled. "A girl can always find time to go shoe shopping?"

He chuckled again. "Right. I should have known that you would know that." Then the laughter faded and he returned to his contemplation of the boot.

JJ scooted over and elbowed him in the ribs just hard enough to get his attention. "Derek Morgan, don't you dare give up on her. Emily is depending on you, on us, to find her. And I'll bet she is doing her damnest to stay alive so that we can."

He bristled at her words. "I'm not," he said in his own defense.

"Good. Then stop looking like you have," she lightly scolded him.

Derek glared at her then broke into a smile. "Yes, Mom."

Everyone thought JJ was the mother of the team. She kept them in line, smoothed ruffled feathers and worried about them while projecting a look of calm. She was the heart and the compassion of the team. And you listened and did as you were told.

He put on his boot, stood up and offered the blonde his hand. "May I escort you to the hotel? Hotch is right. We need to get plenty of sleep since it's going to be another hectic day for all of us."

"You may," she said, putting her hand in his and letting him pull her to her feet. Then slipping her arm through his, the two friends headed for the car.

* * *

The moment JJ entered the hotel room she was supposed to be sharing with Emily, her composure slipped. She hurried to sit on the bed before her knees collapsed. She hadn't realized how difficult it was to keep it all together, to be the rock that held the team on an even keel during a difficult case. That was Emily's job but she wasn't here so JJ had stepped in temporarily to fill the void. Right now she wished she had half of Emily's compartmentalizing ability and be able to box away the fear that was slowly consuming her, the fear that her best friend was gone forever.

But she couldn't. All around her were reminders of her missing friend. The open go bag on the luggage rack that she had to go through to find the right articles of clothing for the dogs. In the bathroom, on the counter, were Emily's makeup case and various toiletries. And on the nightstand next to the other bed was a stack of books. JJ found it amusing that Emily always had a couple of books going on at the same time. Getting up on shaky legs, she went to check them out. One was a mystery, another a fantasy and the third was on Thomas Jefferson's slaves. The books were the only glimpse of Emily's private life that team was allowed. She didn't bring along any other personal items like photos of friends and family.

JJ sighed and put the books back in the same order, not wanting Emily to think she had been snooping through her stuff. She got ready for bed, climbed in, turned out the light and stared at the ceiling, watching the lightning illuminating it. She had to find a way to calm her mind or she would never fall asleep. JJ started repeating 'I must be strong for the team, for Emily,' over and over until she fell into a restless slumber.

* * *

Up on the mountain, Emily laid on her back with her hands behind her head, in the dark. She watched and listened to the storm raging outside. Normally she loved falling asleep to the sound of thunder rumbling in the distance and the rain splattering against her bedroom windows. But not tonight, she had too much on her mind. She had survived another day with only a bloody nose and slightly bruised ribs to show for it but she was worried what tomorrow might bring. Would there be an escalation in violence when he decided she wasn't what he thought she was? Or had he accepted her explanation and plans on keeping her around? She was having a tough time getting a good read on him.

The rest of the day had gone like the others. Her captor had made dinner that was unidentifiable and eaten in silence. Afterwards, he had her clean up then he roughly frisked her, cuffed her on the back of the head and had allowed her to use the outhouse. Then he chained her in her corner and there she remained for the rest of the evening, being ignored. Emily thought she had managed to establish a bit of trust with her captor but at this pace, it would be weeks before she could convince him to take off the shackles and she didn't think she had that much time left. At some point she was going to push the wrong button and all hell would then break loose.

A flash of lightning briefly lit up the interior of the cabin. It was quickly followed by a sharp crack of thunder that shook the whole place. In the few seconds of quiet that followed, there was the soft pitter-patter of small feet and Emily knew she wasn't alone. Emily rolled over on her side and propped herself up on one elbow. Allie was standing next to her, wearing pink pajamas and hugging Edgar.

"Hey, Allie-gator," she greeted the little girl softly. "What are you doing up?"

"Edgar was scared," she whispered. There was another loud crack of thunder causing Allie to jump, clutching the teddy bear tightly to her chest.

Emily smiled. _Guess who else is scared._ "Is Edgar scared of thunderstorms?"

"Uh huh," Allie said, nodding so hard that Emily thought that her head was going to fall off.

"Hmmm," Emily said, pretending to ponder the problem. "Do you think he might feel safer crawling under the covers with me?"

Allie glanced over her shoulder at the bedroom where her father was sleeping. She turned back and nodded her head again. "Yeah." She made no move to turn Edgar over to Emily.

"You know, he might be more comfortable if you joined us. Would you like to do that?"

"Okay."

"Good." Emily scooted back until she bumped into the wall, making room on the narrow, bare mattress for the little girl. She held one end of the blanket up.

Allie eyed her warily then slowly approached. She laid down with her back to Emily with plenty of space between them. Emily covered her with the blanket.

"Are you and Edgar good?" she asked, watching the little girl burrow deeper under the covers.

"Yeah."

Emily rested her head against her hand. "Do you know why the sky lights up and the air is filled with the sounds of rumbles and booms?"

Allie shook her head. When a bolt of lightning lit up the room followed by more thunder, she inched closer to Emily, but not close enough for their bodies to touch.

"It's because the angels are bowling."

That got Allie's attention. She rolled on to her back and stared up at Emily's smiling face with round eyes. "Really?" she breathed in awe.

"Uh huh," she said with a nod. "Every time you hear a clap of thunder, that is the sound of the bowling ball hitting the pins. The louder it is, the more pins are knocked down."

"And the lightning?"

"Happens when the angels bowl a strike, knocking all the pins down on one try."

"Oh," Allie says and goes quiet. Emily can tell she is thinking it over, debating if she should believe it. "What about the times you see the lightning first and then hear the thunder?"

_She's a smart one,_ Emily thought. "That's because there is more than one game going on at the same time. There are a lot of angels up there who love to bowl," she patiently explained, making it up as she went along. If Reid was here, he would have scoffed at the idea and would have launched into explanation of how they actually occurred, lecturing at a level that was way above the head of a six year old and probably a few adults as well.

"Okay," Allie said, apparently accepting Emily's story at face value.

"Does Edgar feel less afraid of thunderstorms now that he knows what is causing them?"

Allie patted the teddy bear fondly on the head. "He does and he says thank you."

Emily smiled and reached over to also give him a pat. "Well, he's welcomed. I'm glad I could make him feel better." Both fell silent, watching the lightning dance across the ceiling. "Do the two of you want to hang out with me awhile longer or go back to your own bed?"

"Stay here," the little girl yawned, eyelids beginning to droop. She rolled on to her side and wiggled back until her back was pressed against Emily's chest.

Emily was surprised. She tentatively wrapped her arms around the child and was pleased when she snuggled deeper in the embrace. An old French lullaby, sung to her a long time ago by a nameless nanny, came unbidden to her mind. Emily lowered her lips to Allie's ear and sang softly, feeling the child begin to relax in her arms. When the lullaby was done, she sang another one and Allie was sound asleep before she finished it. Emily laid her head on the pillow, letting the rain drumming on the roof of the cabin act as her lullaby and let it lull her to sleep.

* * *

_Hope you all enjoyed that so don't forget to let me know what you think. Do come back next week and see what is in store for Emily. Until then._


	13. Chapter 12

_Welcome everyone. A big thanks to those who were thoughtful enough to leave a review. Much appreciated. Now shall we go and see what the new day has in store for our intrepid crime fighters?_

* * *

When Emily awoke that morning, she found herself alone on the bare mattress. She wasn't really surprised; she had felt the little girl slip out of her arms sometime in the middle of the night. _Probably had gone back to her warm bed after the storm had ended._ And speaking of warmth, there wasn't any in the cabin. If the fireplace had been within her reach, she could get up and start a fire.

Sitting up, Emily shivered from the chill in the air and reached for the corduroy shirt she had taken off last night and left folded next to her bed. When she picked it up, something tumbled out and hit the floor with a loud clunk. She blinked in disbelief at the screwdriver and pliers on the wooden floor. _Where the hell did they come from?_ Then she knew and looked quickly at the drawn curtain. Allie must have snuck out last night to the storage shed and gotten the tools for her. That was very sweet of her and very dangerous. She shuddered at the thought of what her father would have done if he had caught her.

Not one to waste an opportunity, Emily threw back the blanket to expose her feet. She pulled up her legs and studied the shackles. She twisted one of the cuffs around to give her a better angle at the locking pin, ignoring the fresh pain as the rough metal bit into her ankle. After another quick peek to make sure she was still alone, Emily jammed the screwdriver under the head of the pin, turned the pliers sideways and used it as a makeshift hammer, pounding it against the handle of the screwdriver. Her spirits began to rise when the pin moved.

"What are you doing?" an angry voice demanded.

Emily jumped at the sound and discreetly shoved the tools under the blanket. "Nothing, Sir. Just rubbing a sore spot on my ankle," she lied, running her hand around the edges of the shackle cuff to make her lie more believable.

But his sharp eyes had caught her attempt at concealment. Her captor rushed over and shoved her to one side, sending her sprawling across the floor. "What do you have?" he shouted, jerking up the blanket and revealing the screwdriver and pliers.

He stood stock still, staring at the tools lying naked on the mattress, then ever so slowly, turned his murderous gaze on her. Emily's instinct told her to back away but she held her ground and showed no fear. He surged forward, grabbed her by the front of her tee shirt with two meaty paws, hauled her up and slammed her back into the wall. Emily automatically wrapped her hands around his thick wrists.

"How did you get them?" he breathed in her face. Emily locked eyes with him and remained silent. "You've been chained inside and the shed is…" he trailed off.

His eyes narrowed in suspicion and turned his head to stare at the drawn curtain concealing the bedroom. Emily knew what he was thinking and began to struggle against his grip, hoping to draw his attention back to her. "I stole them when I went to the outhouse last night."

He let out a low growl and flung her to the mattress like a piece of garbage. Emily grunted with the impact. He spun, heading for the bedroom muttering, "That conniving little brat."

Allie's safety was Emily's highest priority even at the cost of her own life. Without a second thought, she lunged forward, trying to wrap her arms around his legs and bring him down. But the chain brought her up short, making her miss by mere inches. She hit the floor with a thud and a muffled curse.

Emily pushed herself to her knees. "It's my fault!" she cried.

He stopped in mid stride and slowly turned around. "What did you say?" He asked, in a low, menacing voice.

She straightened her back and stared into his eyes. "It's my fault, Sir," she said in a strong voice. "I mentioned in passing that I was looking for them but I never thought she would actually bring me the tools."

"Is that so?" He came back to tower over her.

"Yes, Sir. I take full responsibility and will accept any punishment you see fit. Allie was only trying to help me. Please don't punish her."

"I won't," he growled and struck her with a vicious backhand to the face.

Emily fell backwards from the blow…and then the next thing she knew, she was lying facedown on the table, her right cheek throbbing and her hands tied to the legs. Slowly she pried open her eyes and saw a blurry shape to her right. It was too small to be her captor so it must be Allie. She painfully raised her head from the table and shook it, trying to clean out the cobwebs and bring her vision back into focus. It worked. The blurry form slowly morphed into a terrified little girl. Allie sat in a chair a few feet away from her. Her knees were drawn tightly to her chest, Edgar safely tucked between them with just his one ear sticking up over her knees indicating his presence. What tore at Emily's heart was the fear in her wide, green eyes and the frantic sucking of her thumb.

"Everything is going to be alright, Allie," Emily said, putting on a reassuring face though she didn't feel that way inside. Whatever he had planned wasn't going to be pleasant.

"Enjoy your little nap?" Came his taunting voice.

Emily twisted her head around to the left to glare up at her captor while tugging at the ropes, testing their strength. She wasn't going anywhere until he cut her loose. "She doesn't need to see this, Sir," she pleaded.

"Yes, she does," he said, stepping up to the table and pulling out his knife. He slipped the tip of the sharp blade under the hem of her shirt and sliced upward, stopping at the collar. He folded back the two pieces of material and cut through her bra strap.

He ran his hand over her naked back. Emily repressed a shudder and pulled harder at the restraints. "She has to learn that breaking the rules has dire consequences."

Grinning wickedly, he reached down and unbuckled his belt. Allie cringed and dropped her eyes to the floor. He stopped and pointed a finger at her. "Don't you dare look away!" he ordered. "You are to watch every minute of this." Allie's eyes shot up.

Emily turned her head back and spoke in a calm and reassuring voice. "Allie Sweetie, I need you to look at me." The little girl did and Emily locked eyes with her. "Just stay focused on my face. It will be over soon. Okay?"

"Okay," she said in a small voice around her thumb. She unconsciously tightened her grip on Edgar.

Emily nodded and rested her uninjured cheek on the rough wood. She wrapped her fingers around the ropes that held her fast and tried to prepare for what was coming. As prepared as she was, the first lash of the belt still took her breath away. Pain coursed through her back but she held her tongue, refusing to give him the satisfaction of hearing her cry out in pain or begging him to stop. Instead, she kept her eyes locked with Allie and her face emotionless, trying to keep the little girl calm.

After the initial blow, each one that followed seemed to come down harder than the previous. Emily quickly lost count as they began to blur together. Each strike of the belt ripped the breath out of her and she used all her strength not to twitch. The only sign of her struggle to keep her composure was the white-knuckle grip she had on the ropes. Soon her entire back was on fire and she fought not to let the tears that were threatening, to trickle down her cheek.

When Allie started to look away, Emily swallowed hard and pushed the pain down temporarily. "Allie, keep your eyes on me," her voice came out surprisingly steady but much weaker. The little girl reluctantly looked back. "Good…" she sucked in her breath when the next blow landed, "…girl."

Emily was on the verge of passing out from the excruciating pain when he stopped. She felt him prying her fingers from the ropes so that he could untie the knots. Then the room tilted when he shoved her off the table. She hit the floor on her back, pain surging up and down the entire length of her body. She lay staring at the ceiling, exhausted from the pain and fighting to stay conscious.

* * *

He stared down at her unmoving form, taking great pride in being able to inflict the maximum amount of pain with each lash of the belt without breaking the skin. He paused to admire the ten angry welts crisscrossing Emily's back before he had dumped her off the table. But he was also frustrated; she had not given him what he desired. He wanted to hear her scream in agony, wanted to watch her writhe on the table, pleading with him to stop. But his captive refused to play along; she hadn't made a sound, not one damn sound.

With anger welling up in him, he stormed around the table and over to Emily, nudging her roughly in the ribs with the toe of his boot. _I'll make her beg for mercy,_ he vowed. "Get in your corner!" he ordered.

Emily's eyes slid over to him and saw the anger on his face. She opened her mouth to say 'yes, sir' but she couldn't find her voice so she simply nodded. Painfully she rolled onto her side and struggled to her hands and knees, the sliced shirt hanging off her. She knew she didn't have the strength to stand so she resorted to crawling on one hand while the other held the remains of the shirt against her chest.

She wasn't moving fast enough for his liking so her captor brought the belt down as hard as he could, drawing blood for the first time. "I said now!" he roared.

The blow knocked Emily to the ground. She took a second to catch her breath, swallow the pain, pushed herself back to her knees and resumed crawling. But she never made a sound, not even a whimper, and that only infuriated him more. He followed her, raining down on her three more bloody blows. Each one slammed her to the floor but Emily got back up and pressed forward. After what seemed like an eternity, she reached her corner and collapsed halfway on the mattress, finally letting the pain overwhelm her and sweep her into peaceful oblivion.

* * *

At first light the team, minus Derek who was back on the mountain, had reassembled at the ranger station. They were eager to see if Garcia's background checks on the patrons of the diner had produced any viable leads.

"_I don't have any good news, my pets," _Penelope said when her tired voice came over the line. They all hoped she hadn't spent the night baby-sitting her computers as they ran their searches. _"Nothing spectacular jumped out at me, but then I'm not a profiler like you guys, on the background checks. A few minor blimps here and there, but nothing that screams serial killer."_

Hotch mentally sighed. He had a feeling that she was going to say that. This whole case has been confounding from the very beginning. No potential clues at first, then toss in Prentiss' kidnapping to muddy up the waters. Finally they got a couple of leads that quickly fizzled out. It felt like they were fumbling their way through a corn maze, wearing a blindfold.

"Send them to us anyways," he ordered.

"_Already on its way through the ether," _she chimed.

He nodded and pulled over a laptop to open the email. Meanwhile, Dave leaned back in his chair, sipping his coffee and wondering how many he was going to need to get through this day.

"Garcia, did you get any of the results back on the items Morgan sent to the lab?" He asked.

"_Indeedy, I did."_ The heard her roll her chair across the floor to another computer. _"What do you want first? The good news or the bad news?"_

Everyone looked at each other in apprehension. "Uh…the good news," JJ ventured for them.

"The blood on the stick was definitely human but it wasn't our Emily's. So it has to be his. I hope our Raven Warrior gave him a good crack over the head. Or better yet, to his little you-know-whos."

They all smiled. "Run the DNA?" Reid asked.

"Yup. And that is where the good news ends. No matches."

"What about Prentiss' watch?" Hotch inquired.

"Oh, the techs found a nice partial print on the back and ran it through Codis. Again, no hits I'm afraid."

They all sagged back in their seats; another dead end. "So if he is not in the system that means he hasn't been arrested for any crimes. He's smart, he's keeping under the radar."

Reid scratched his ear. "We should be able to trace him through the sedative he used to knock Emily out with. You would need a prescription for it since it is a controlled substance."

"Garcia, were they able determine what was in the syringe?" Dave asked.

"_Yes, they did. Give me a sec." _The sound of her typing came over the line. _"Here we go. It was valerian."_

Reid frowned. "That's a natural supplement."

"Is it regulated?" JJ asked.

The young genius shook his head. "No. The Food and Drug Administration doesn't consider natural supplements as a controlled substance so it is sold over the counter."

She sighed. "So another dead end."

"Not necessarily." Reid leaned forward. "Garcia, can you check out all the drug stores here and in the surrounding towns for large sales of valerian. It takes a large quantity to make a dosage strong enough to knock out a person."

"Will do but its going to take some time. I'll call ya'll when I get something. Garcia out."

"In the meantime," Hotch said, standing up and going over to the printer. He came back with several copies of the email and passed them out. "We need to look these over and interview these people who were at the diner. I'm willing to bet our UnSub was one of them."

* * *

The sensation of something cool and wet against her back, slowly brought Emily around. The pain was still there but her back no longer felt like it was on fire. Instead, it was a dull constant throb. There would be some scarring, both physically and mentally, but she would heal. She had been through a lot worse during her CIA and Interpol days so this seemed more like a walk in the park. The main point was that she had survived those beatings and she would survive this one.

Emily cracked her eyes open to see who was tending to her injuries. So she wasn't surprised to see Allie and Edgar sitting next to her. The little girl's eyes were red from crying and her cheeks were stained with dried tears. She was sucking on the thumb of one hand while she pressed the wet rag against Emily's back with the other.

"Hey Allie-gator," she said softly, giving the little girl a smile.

Allie's eyes widened at the sound of Emily's voice and then promptly burst into another around of tears. "I'm…sor…sorry…Mom…Mommy," she said gasped between sobs.

Emily painfully rolled on to her side, holding back the grimace of pain, so that she could reach out and run a soothing hand over Allie's knee. "Ssh…it's not your fault, Sweetie. You did nothing wrong."

"But…but…I," she hiccupped.

"You were only trying to help me." Emily fought to keep the pain out of her voice when another wave of it washed over her. When it passed, she continued. "There is nothing wrong in trying to help out someone you love." She hadn't wanted to use the word 'love' because she wasn't sure if the little girl actually loved her or had simply latched on to her because she had shown her some kindness.

"Rea…really?" Allie asked, her crying easing up.

"Really," Emily confirmed, wiping the tears from Allie's one cheek with her thumb. "And you are helping me right now by taking care of my cuts. They feel better already," she lied. Right now she would sell her soul for some decent painkillers. Well, maybe not her whole soul but a good chunk of it.

"They do? Cause some of them look real bad."

"I'm sure some of them do. Do you know where the first aid kit is?" Emily asked and the little girl nodded. "Can you go get it and you can help me bandage the worse ones?"

"Okay," she agreed and scampered off, eager to help her new mommy in any way she could.

Meanwhile, Emily rolled back on to her stomach and leveled herself up on her elbows. Allie returned second later with the kit. Emily opened it and removed all the gauze pads; having a feeling she was going to use all of them. There was a roll of gauze in the kit but it was useless to her since she had nothing to cut it with.

She handed the gauze pads to Allie, instructing her to place them over the cuts that were bleeding while she used her teeth to rip the tape into manageable pieces. Between the two of them, they managed to patch up Emily's back as best as they could. Then biting her lip to hold back a whimper of pain, Emily slowly and painfully maneuvered herself into a sitting position. It was then she realized her captor had reattached her to the short chain at the foot of the mattress.

She paused to catch her breath before speaking. "Could I have a glass of water?" She had spotted a couple packets of aspirin in the first aid kit. It was the closest she could get to actual pain meds. If her mouth weren't as parched as the Sahara, she would have swallowed the pills dry.

"Here you are, Mommy," Allie said brightly, holding out the glass that was filled to the brim.

Emily tore open two packets and downed four aspirins. Then she polished off the rest of the water. "Thank you," she said, handing the empty glass back. Normally she hated the taste of well water but today it tasted like wine.

"You're welcome." Allie smiled shyly before returning the glass and first aid kit to their proper places without any prompting from Emily.

While Allie was busy putting everything away, Emily addressed the issue of her undress status. The remains of the shirt and bra hung loosely from her body. She ripped them off and reached for the corduroy shirt for the second time in one day. She put her arms through the sleeves and eased the shirt over her back, hissing with pain as the material came into contact with the welts that weren't covered by gauze.

"Anything else I can help you with, Mommy?" Allie asked, shifting eagerly from foot to foot.

Emily smiled and shook her head, suddenly feeling very tired. _Maybe the aspirin is kicking in,_ she thought. 'No. I think that is all for now. Why don't you and Edgar go outside and play while I take a nap?"

Allie looked down at her shoes in shame. "Daddy says I'm not allowed to leave the cabin."

"Okay. Then the two of you can play in here."

"Will you play with us?" she asked shyly.

Emily smiled again. "I would love to but only after I take a short nap. Will that work for you?"

"Yeah." Allie scooped up Edgar, who hadn't liked sitting on the floor by himself for a long time, and dashed off to fetch her crayons and coloring book.

The two settled on the floor close to Emily with their stuff. Emily laid back down on her stomach and fell asleep listening to Allie instructing Edgar on how to color within the lines.

* * *

_Well, Emily had been worried that somewhere she would push the wrong button. Seems like it came. The team has a few more clues. Will they be able to put it all together before the kidnapper totally loses it and kills her? Check in next week to find out. Until then._


	14. Chapter 13

_Hello again, faithful readers. I once again thank everyone for the great reviews. Much appreciated. Now, lets go see how the rest of Emily's day goes. Enjoy._

* * *

Pain erupting in her back jolted Emily out of her restless slumber. She pried her sleep- encrusted eyes open to find her captor standing over her, one booted foot pressing down on her back.

He cocked his head to one side and leered. "How's the back?" he taunted.

"It's been better, Sir," she replied, glad her voice was sounding steady.

He pushed down on her back, sending a new wave of pain coursing through her, before removing his boot. "I have to run into town to get supplies." He paused to scratch his beard thoughtfully. "But what am I to do with you, Emily?"

Emily pushed herself upright, wondering the same thing. _Have I finally reached the end of the line and is he going to lead me off to the slaughter?_ She watched him with a wary eye as he bent down to unfasten the chain. Then he surprised her by not disconnecting it from the shackles, but from the ring set in the floor.

"Stand up," he said, latching on to her left arm and jerking her to her feet.

Emily wasn't going to die without a fight. She twisted in his grip and delivered a powerful punch to the jaw, snapping his head to the side. He slowly turned, grinned and hit her back. The blow sent her careening into the unforgiving wall and to the floor. He hauled her up and twisted her arm behind her back.

"You stupid, bitch," he growled in her ear. "I'm not going to kill you…yet. I haven't had the joy of breaking you."

Emily winced as he wrenched her arm higher and forced marched her into the bedroom, the chain still attached to the shackles dragging between her feet. He shoved her to the floor between the beds. She sat up and rubbed her now sore jaw, glaring at her captor. She slowly began to shift her weight, trying to get into a better position to launch herself at him while he went to move the footlocker at the foot of the bed. Emily got her feet under her and balanced on her fingertips and the balls of her feet, ready to pounce the moment his back was turned.

Just a she was about to spring forward, he whirled around, brandishing the knife. "You do it, you die. Sit down!" His voice was low and menacing.

Reluctantly Emily sat back down, silently cursing the missed opportunity. Still holding the knife and keeping one eye on her, he finished pulling the footlocker to one side, revealing a trap door. There was a root cellar. Emily blinked in disbelief and mentally kicked herself for missing it when she had cleaned the floor. The footlocker had completely hidden it.

He straightened and gestured with the knife. "Get in. Now!"

"Yes, Sir," she ground out as she stood and edged over to peer into the darkness below, just making out the shape of the ladder.

Taking a deep breath, Emily placed her foot on the first rung and slowly made her descent. The short chain between the shackles made it extremely difficult to climb down, but she managed to do it without falling on her ass. When her foot hit solid ground, she edged away from the ladder, feeling the space behind her with her foot before taking a step, not wanting to trip over an unseen object. She kept her eyes glued on the ladder, thinking that she could use the darkness to her advantage.

"Don't even think about it," he breathed down her neck.

Emily jumped and spun around, instinctively striking out, her clenched fist swinging through the empty air. A low chuckle came from her left. _Damn,_ she swore. _He's still fast and quiet._ She hadn't heard him following her down the ladder. There was the sound of wood striking stone and a match flared to life. He used it to light a kerosene lamp and hung it on a hook screwed into the ceiling joist, bathing the small space with a weak light. Emily quickly looked around the room and found it empty except for the shelves along one wall, loaded with canned goods and a support column in the middle.

He grabbed her arm and dragged her over to the column. "Sit down and put your arms behind the column," he ordered.

When she didn't move quick enough, he squeezed her shoulder in a vise like grip. Emily grimaced from the intense pain and pressure. She felt her knees begin to buckle and he used that to force her the rest of the way down. Not waiting for her to comply with the rest of his order, he circled the column, jerked her arms back and tied her wrists together. Then he picked up the coil of rope hidden behind it and wrapped it around her torso and arms, lashing her tightly to the column.

Before securing her feet with the chain to the stake driven into the ground, he pulled two rags out of his pocket. Realizing what he planned to do with them, Emily clamped her mouth shut and twisted her head away. He seized her by the jaw and squeezed, forcing her teeth apart. He stuffed the first rag in and tied the other over mouth to prevent her from spitting it out.

"Can't have you making any noise and alert anyone who might stumble by when I'm not here," he explained as he tightened the knot.

He stood up and paused to pat her on the cheek. Emily glared at him over the gag. "I hope you are comfortable because Allie and I won't be back until sometime tomorrow morning." He reached up to extinguish the kerosene lamp. "Sorry, no nightlight for you. Can't advertise that the cabin has a cellar."

With the turn of the knob, the cellar was plunged into darkness, except for the small square outline of the hatchway, illuminated from above. She heard him chuckle as he climbed the ladder. Then the trap door slammed shut, cutting off the last ray of light and hope. It was as if he had just hammered in the last nail in her coffin lid, condemning her to a life of eternal night. She listened to him dragging the footlocker back into place then followed his and Allie's footsteps cross the floor to the door.

As soon as the cabin door banged closed, Emily began an assault on her restraints. This was the perfect opportunity to escape, if she could only free herself. She tugged at the binding around her wrists while twisting her body from side to side, trying to loosen the ropes that held her fast to the support column. Soon she was sweating and breathing heavy from the exertion, forcing her to take a break. She rested for a few minutes before resuming her attack. In the end, all she succeeded in doing was abrading the skin on her wrists and aggravating the welts on her back.

Emily leaned her head against the column, sucking in deep breaths through her nose and willed herself to relax. Her captor knew his knots; she wasn't getting free until someone untied her. And no one was going to know she was there unless she could get the gag out of her mouth. She tried moving the cloth by rubbing it against her shoulder but her arms were bound so tightly to the column she couldn't lift it high enough to reach her cheek. Emily sighed and stared off into the gloom as a wave of emotions washed over her: annoyance for letting herself to be kidnapped, pissed at her captor for using her as his personal punching bag and worry of what he might do to Allie since she wasn't around to stop it. But mostly she was scared. She was trapped in the dark and for the first time since being taken captive, Emily was truly and completely alone. A feeling she didn't like and never wanted to experience again.

* * *

As Dave had predicted, the overnight thunderstorm had obliterated the remains of Emily's and her kidnapper's trail, knocking the search back to square one. Head Ranger Daly had moved the base camp to Emily's last known location and had handed out the new search grid assignments after sending the search dogs home since they were no longer of use. Derek, with Ranger Wood at his side, chose to head in a northwest direction. West because that was the direction they were heading in before taking that minor detour. North because, if he were the kidnapper, he would head for higher ground.

The two men walked in silence, their minds and hearts weighed down by the thought of the odds of finding her went down with each passing hour and day. They kept their eyes glued to the ground, hoping to find one piece of evidence that the rain hadn't washed away. None was found so far.

At noon, Red suggested they take a break and they settled on a couple of sun-warmed rocks to eat their lunch. As Derek munched gloomily on a granola bar, the ranger studied the map draped over his knees. He tapped a spot on it thoughtfully. "You know, I think there might be a cabin not far from here."

Derek arched an eyebrow. "How far is not far away?"

Red shrugged. "Five miles, tops."

"Only five miles," he commented with a light chuckle. The ranger nodded. "So how many cabins does the park maintain?" Normally a remote cabin could be the perfect place to hole up with your hostage for the winter, but not if the rangers checked them regularly.

"Actually none," the ranger replied, refolding the map. "The cabins were here before this land was made into a national park and they were grand fathered in as personal property. Many have been in the family for generations and are still used by them. The park only acquires the property when the last member of the family dies. Then we tear down the cabin and let the area return to nature."

Derek perked up at that, the granola bar forgotten in his hand. "So no one from the park service checks them?"

"That is correct. It has been strongly hinted that the owners keep their places securely locked up so that hikers or hunters won't use them and cause any damage."

"Is the Head Ranger having the other cabins that are in close proximity to the original abduction searched?"

Another nod. "As we speak. He thought the same thing you are thinking now."

Derek shoved the remains of the bar in his jacket pocket and stood up. "Lets go check out that cabin." He started to walk away when he realized her didn't know in which direction to head in. He turned to the ranger who was watching him in amusement. "Which way is it?" He asked, somewhat sheepishly.

Red pointed a finger. "North."

* * *

Almost three hours of uphill hiking, the two men finally reached the cabin that Red remembered. Derek made them stop at the edge of the clearing, wanting to scope out the area before approaching. If this was where the kidnapper had taken Emily, he didn't want to stumble into a potentially dangerous situation unprepared. His sharp eyes took in the log cabin with a short roof attached to one side to keep the woodpile dry, an outhouse and a small shed. He also detected the padlock securing all the doors, gleaming in the late afternoon sun.

"Looks like no one is home," Red observed.

"Possibly," Derek agreed. "Let's take a closer look."

He cautiously stepped out into the clearing with his hand resting on the butt of his weapon. As Ranger Wood went to check out the two outer buildings, Derek approached the cabin on careful feet. He tried to peek in the window but it was too high. He checked the padlock on the door and, much to his surprise, found it unlocked. Whoever had put it on last time had hung it in such a way to make it appear that it had been snapped closed. It didn't make any sense to him; if you had a prisoner inside, you would make sure the padlock was locked.

"Find anything?" the ranger asked, stopping at his side.

"The padlock isn't locked," he said, pointing to it.

"He could have had trouble with getting it unlocked so he leaves it that way until he can get a new one," Red said with a shrug.

"Possible." Derek removed the lock and pushed open the door with one hand.

The two men slipped inside the one room cabin. To their left was a wood burning stove and a kitchenette with a hand pump. To their immediate right was a large stone fireplace. In the center of the room was a heavy looking table with four chairs. A curtain led to a small bedroom at the back and in the far corner was a bare mattress with a pillow and a neatly folded blanket.

While the ranger headed for the bedroom, Derek wandered over to the mattress, wondering why it was bare but had a pillow and blanket. "Red," he called out. "Does the bed in there have sheets on it?"

The ranger poked his head around the wall. "They both do. Why?"

"There's none on this mattress."

"Maybe it's only used when someone is visiting," Red observed, moving from the bedroom to the kitchenette. He pulled on the drawers, finding some of them locked.

"Maybe," Derek said absently, distracted by the four holes drilled in the floor at the foot of the mattress. He ran his finger over the rough edges, wondering what had been screwed in there.

He straightened and slowly walked around the room. "This place looks rather clean so someone had to be up here lately. He saw four more holes in the floor by the bedroom wall. He bent to take a closer look. _Something had been removed very recently_, he mused. "Do you know who owns this?"

Ranger Wood scrunched up his face. "I think some guy by the name of Lewis or Dutton or something like that. I do know he has a kid," he tossed out.

"How?"

Red grinned and jerked his thumb in the general direction of the bedroom. "There's a bunch of children's books in there."

Derek nodded and continued to look around. Something was off about this place but he couldn't put his finger on what exactly it was. "If someone was here recently, they may have seen something but didn't realize its significance."

"Should we leave them a note asking them to contact us?"

"Good idea." Derek pulled out one of his business cards. He jotted down a brief note and phone number on the back on left it on the table.

Red glanced at his watch. "We should really head back to the base camp. We only have a few hours left of daylight left."

Derek nodded his agreement and followed the ranger outside. As he was about to put the lock back into place, he paused. He swung open the door and took one last look around the cabin. He still felt he was missing something. Then he shrugged, chalking off the feeling as part of his worry over Emily, that he was putting too much into it. There was no sign that she had ever been here. With that thought in mind, he closed the door.

* * *

The heavy tread of boots overhead pulled Emily out of a light doze. She cast her eyes up to the ceiling, wondering if her captor had returned. The darkness surrounding her had diminished her sight but it had sharpened her hearing so it didn't take her long to discern two different footfalls. Her spirits began to rise when she realized that neither belonged to Allie. She was about to try to make some noise when it dawned on her that the little girl could still be outside and her captor had brought back a friend. She wouldn't put it past him. She could picture him sitting around the table, drinking beers and exchanging old stories while he held her hostage in the root cellar. Then one of them spoke, sending shockwaves crashing through her body. He eyes widened in recognition.

_Morgan!_

"Morgan!" she yelled as loudly as she could, only to have it come out as a muffled grunt. In her desperation to attract her partner's attention, she had forgotten about the damn gag stuffed in her mouth.

Emily began to thrash about, straining against the ropes and yanking at the chain that held her feet snug against the wooden stake driven into the ground. She tried to make as much noise as possible while screaming into the gag, "Derek! I'm down here!" over and over. She kept her eyes glued to the invisible ceiling, following their footsteps as they moved about the cabin. Her struggling sent fresh waves of pain ripping through her back but she didn't care; it was a price she was willing to pay to get noticed and rescued.

Then the unthinkable happened; the footsteps started to recede. Emily's eyes widened with the realization that they were leaving. _No! No! No, _she thought frantically, fighting harder to get their attention. All she could muster was desperate groans and whimpers. _Come back! Oh god, come back,_ she screamed in her head. _Don't leave me!_

The sound of the door closing and the silence that followed was deafening. Emily's body sagged in defeat, drained of all hope and energy. _They left, _she mentally moaned. _They left me._ Emily sniffled then fought to hold back the tears that were threatening to fall. Crying was the last thing she wanted to do when gagged. Her nose would get stuffed up and she wouldn't be able to breathe. A black cloud of depression engulfed her as she continued to stare at the ceiling. She had come so close to getting out of this living hell; eight fucking feet short.

* * *

_Oh! She came so, so close to being rescued. Nothing worse than having your high hopes dashed on the rocks. Well check in next week to see what is in store for Emily. Don't forget to let me know what you think. Until then._


	15. Chapter 14

_Welcome back to all who have tuned back in to read the next chapter. Thanks for all the wonderful reviews. They made my day. So now go read and enjoy._

* * *

Allie and her father stepped into the diner. This was not the first place he wanted to be when returning to town. He had planned on dumping the kid off at home and run his errands but she had whined the entire trip down the mountain about how hungry she was. He didn't feel like cooking, so to shut her up, he brought her here. And as he thought about it, to show off what a doting father he was. She burst through the diner's door and made a beeline for the counter. She scrambled up the nearest stool and kneeled on top of it, slowly turning it back and forth while her father took the one next to her.

"Evening, Lewis, Allie," Lynn, the waitress said, greeting both with a nod. "Want your regulars?"

"Yes," Lewis answered.

Minutes later she returned with coffee for him and a thick chocolate milkshake for her. Allie ripped the paper off the straw, shoved it in the glass and slurped up the shake. Halfway through the meal, a photograph taped to the cash register caught her attention. She paused in mid slurp and squinted at it. Her eyes grew wide and reached over to tug at his sleeve.

Pointing, she said in a loud voice. "Look, Daddy, its Mommy!"

Both her father and the waitress turned to look at what she was pointing to. He stiffened and Lynn let out a soft laugh. "Honey, that's not your mommy."

Allie frowned at her. "Yes it is," she insisted.

"No it isn't," the waitress repeated. "That's a photo of the missing FBI agent."

The little girl opened her mouth to argue further when her father grabbed her by the arm and squeezed. "Yes, she looks a little like your mother but she isn't. Understand me?" he said in an even voice.

Allie's eyes widened as he squeezed her arm harder. She nodded wordlessly, trying not to cry. He let go and said, " Good girl. Now finish your dinner."

"Yes, Daddy," Allie lisped, the excitement of eating out now a distant memory. All she wanted to do was to go back to the cabin and crawl into the comforting arms of her new mommy. She would hold and rock her and tell her that was safe. Maybe even sing that pretty song she sang last night. When her father glared at her again, Allie stopped her day dreaming and choked down the rest of her now tasteless dinner.

Once they were outside the diner and alone, Lewis knelt down so that they were eye to eye. He roughly grabbed her arm and shook her. "You will never mention your new mommy in public again. If you do, I will whip her again. Only this time it will be harder and longer. It will be your fault that she is in so much pain. You got it?"

Allie sniffled and put her thumb in her mouth. "Yes, Daddy," she mumbled around it.

Lewis Sutton straightened and growled in annoyance. "Stop your blubbering. We've got shopping to do." He grabbed his daughter's hand and dragged her down the street.

* * *

Lynn watched from the window of the diner as the father and daughter disappeared down the street. Something was odd about the whole visit. Usually when Lewis came in with Allie, he was always smiling and loving towards the girl but this time he was a bit tense. Especially when Allie had insisted that the photo of the missing agent was that of her mommy. Lynn had thought it was cute until she saw the look of fear and pain on the girl's face when he had told he she was wrong.

Then it clicked in her head what was wrong. Lynn remembered she had met Allie's mother once. If her memory served her right, the girl's mother was a small timid woman with lank, blonde hair. There was no physical resemblance between the two women. So why would Allie call the missing agent her mommy? She acted like…like she had met her before.

Lynn reached into the pocket of her apron and pulled out the business card the bearded agent had given her. He had told her to call if she remembered anything else or witnessed something unusual. And what she had just seen certainly qualified as unusual. She hurried back to the counter and picked up the phone.

* * *

The team reassembled that evening at the ranger station to compare notes after spending the day interviewing the people reported to be in the diner at the same time as Derek and Emily. JJ and Reid had stayed at the station to talk to those who had been willing to come to them while Hotch and Dave traipsed all over the countryside to conduct the rest.

In the end, they had met with everyone on their list except for seven names; they were neither at home nor at work. They would have Penelope run a deeper check on them; their absences could mean nothing. Meanwhile, they compared their interviews and they all sounded similar. They had all reported that they hadn't seen someone acting strangely or they were too involved in their meals to notice what was going on around them.

JJ ran a frustrated hand through her hair. "Damn it! Another dead end."

Reid spun his chair around to stare at the map of the national park. "You know, we might have it wrong," he mused.

"Have what wrong?" Dave asked, one eyebrow rose in question.

"The motherhood angle."

"The whole thing?"

Reid turned back. "No. What if our UnSub already has children and is looking to replace an absent mother?"

Everyone straightened at his new revelation. Hotch punched Penelope's number into the phone.

"_You rang, oh mighty one?"_ she intoned.

"Garcia, I need to recheck the list of diner patrons for any men who have children and their wives have either left them or has died."

"I have three."

"Give them to me."

"Uh…Harvey DeWitt, Lewis Sutton and Jacob Leahy."

Dave's phone went off. He excused himself and stepped away to answer it. "Agent Rossi," he said, when he didn't recognize the number.

JJ flipped through the list. "Sutton and Leahy are two of the seven we didn't interview."

"Garcia, what can you tell us about Jacob Leahy's and Lewis Sutton's wives?"

"_Let's see,"_ she mused as they listened to her pound away on her keyboard. _"Jacob Leahy's wife, Beth, died eight years ago from breast cancer. She left behind two sons."_

"How old are they?"

"Seventeen and fourteen."

Reid frowned. "They're too old. Their concepts of right and wrong have been firmly cemented by the preteen years. The oldest would definitely know what the father was doing is wrong."

"Lewis Sutton?"

Again, the sound of key clicking could be heard. _"Candice Sutton seems to have dropped off the map four years ago. That's the last time she appears on any of their financials."_

JJ looked around the table. "Four years ago. That's when the first woman Reid had designated as a possible victim disappeared."

Hotch frowned at the phone. "No death certificate or divorce papers for her?"

"None, Sir."

"He could have killed her and disposed of her body in the park like he did with the other victims," Reid mused.

"Pen, how old are their children now?"

"They have one daughter, age six."

"That fits," JJ said eagerly. "Four years ago, Sutton kills his wife or she abandons him, leaving him with a two year old daughter. He has no idea what to do with such a young child so he looks for a surrogate mother."

Reid picks up the line of thought. "He grabs his candidate from the trail in the fall, takes her to his home or a second location and spends the winter trying to make her conform to his image of the perfect wife."

Hotch nodded in agreement. "And when she can't or won't, he kills her and starts over again."

"The odds of Emily surviving this has just gone up," Reid said. "She has an advantage that the other victims didn't have. She knows what he is trying to do and will play along with his fantasy for as long as she can."

Dave returned to the table, a frown creasing his brow, the cell phone still in his hand. "That was Lynn from the diner. A man by the name of Lewis Sutton came in with his daughter. The little girl kept pointing to a photo of Prentiss we had left there, calling her mommy."

Reid, JJ and Hotch exchanged glances. "We were just discussing him," JJ said.

Hotch pushed back from the table. "That's too much of a coincidence. Let's go and see if Sutton is home yet." Everyone jumped to their feet and followed their Unit Chief to the SUV.

* * *

Hotch and JJ took up position on either side of the front door, guns drawn and held ready. They waited impatiently for Dave and Reid to signal that they were at the back door. Through the earpiece, he heard Dave say that they were ready.

"Copy that," Hotch whispered into his mike. "Enter on the count of three."

JJ silently counted to three and nodded. Hotch stepped in front of the door and kicked out with his left foot. The blow shattered the lock and knocked the door halfway off its hinges. On quiet feet, he surged through the opening with JJ right on his heels. From the back of the house, they could hear Dave bestowing the same punishment on the back door. They quickly cleared the small, single story house.

"Still looks like nobody is home," Dave commented, holstering his weapon.

Hotch stood in the middle of living room with his arms crossed. Reid was wandering around the kitchen while JJ had gone to interview the neighbors. "At least not in the last week," he said, observing the thin layer of dust on the coffee table.

Dave glanced around the sterile impersonal room. "Prentiss was never here. The houses are too close to offer him the privacy he would need to beat his captive into submission. He has to have a secondary location."

"Agreed," Hotch said with his usual frown. "I'll get Garcia to do a property search." He pulled out his phone and dialed the technical analyst's number.

JJ came back in and waited patiently for Hotch to finish his phone call. As soon as he had hung up, she started talking. "I talked to two little old women who live next door who were thrilled to be interviewed by the FBI." The men smiled. "Olga and Helga, that's how they want to be addressed, said the Suttons were a nice couple. Friendly and never causing any trouble. They did admit the wife was plain and rather timid so they were surprised when she suddenly took off and left the daughter behind. They said the daughter was the center of the wife's universe."

"Don't think she had much of a choice," Dave remarked dryly.

"Obviously Sutton abused her mentally and physically until she was completely submissive to him," Hotch said.

"Hey guys," Reid called out. "Look what I found." He stopped into the living room and held out his gloved hands. In one he held a small brown bottle with leaves inside and on the palm of his open hand he balanced four full syringes. "It's valerian."

"The same stuff he used to sedate Emily?" JJ asked.

"Yes."

Hotch nodded. "Lets get that bagged and off to the lab. In the morning we'll get a crime scene unit out here and look for fingerprints and DNA that should match the ones Morgan found. Meanwhile, we'll have a BOLO issued for Sutton and his vehicle. Also we'll stake out this house and hope he hasn't made us."

The sound of a car door slamming brought a sudden halt to the conversation. Drawing their weapons, the team spread out and aimed them at the open doorway. They tensed as feet pounded up the sidewalk.

"What did I miss? Whoa!" Derek exclaimed as he skidded to a stop, eyes widening at the sight of four guns trained on his chest.

Everyone released the breath they had been holding except for Derek, who had to catch his. "Morgan, what are you doing her?" JJ demanded, putting her gun away.

"I was on my way back to the ranger station when Garcia called and told me to get my ass over here," he said, looking from face to face in curiosity. "What did you find?"

"We know who the UnSub is," Hotch informed him. "His name is Louis Sutton and we believe he is holding Prentiss at secondary location."

Derek gaped at him. "Did you just say Lewis Sutton?" he asked incredulously.

Hotch eyed him. "Yes," he answered cautiously. "Why do you—?"

"Damn! Damn! Damn!" he swore and rubbed his head angrily with both hands. He turned and punched the nearest wall, leaving a dent in the plaster.

"What is it, Morgan?"

"Damn it, Hotch! I was fucking there." Derek spun back around to face his Unit Chief, his eyes blazing with anger and self-recrimination.

"Where?" Hotch pressed, trying to make sense of Derek's ravings.

"Red and I were in Sutton's fucking cabin today."

It was everyone's turn to stare at the dark agent in disbelief. Hotch held up his hands. "Morgan, calm down and tell us what you are talking about."

With a guilt radiating off him in waves, Derek told the team what his day had been like up on the mountain. By the time he was done, he was pacing the room and pounding his fist into his other hand. "I was right there. I knew I was missing something but I couldn't put my finger on it. I should have stayed and kept looking."

Dave stepped up to the clearly upset younger agent and laid a hand on his shoulder. He had to be the voice of reason for the group since he had the least emotional attachment to Prentiss, being the newest member of the team.

"Morgan, you didn't know Lewis Sutton was our UnSub. Hell, we didn't even know until over an hour ago. And the odds are she wasn't even there when you were in the cabin."

Derek turned to glare at the older agent. "Are you saying that he killed her, Rossi? Because if you are, I might have to hit you," he threatened.

"Go ahead and try it," he said, locking eyes with Derek, daring him to take a swing. When the dark agent looked away, Dave continued. "No, I don't think that. I may not know Prentiss as well as the rest of you do but I can see she is a strong and determined agent. She won't break easily and Sutton seems the type that loves challenges. Prentiss is definitely a challenge."

There were a few nods of agreement from the rest of the team. That is what they all loved and sometimes hated about their friend; her stubbornness.

"If Sutton felt comfortable enough to come into town then he has her hidden somewhere close to the cabin. Somewhere that people won't easily stumble over. That is why you didn't find her."

"Then what are we waiting for? We need to get back up there." Derek spun on his heels and headed for the door.

Hotch blocked his path. "Morgan, we have to wait until morning. If we go now, we'll just end up bumbling around in the dark."

Derek waved a frustrated hand at the door. "But we know where Prentiss is."

"And she'll be fine for one more night," Hotch said firmly, his tone indicating that there would be no further discussion. "We have to do this right to keep him from escaping with Prentiss. We need to get a SWAT team up here and coordinate with Head Ranger Daly and his staff. We want that cabin surrounded and all possible escape routes cut off."

Derek glared at his boss, not liking what he had said. Now was not the time to sit on ones hands and do nothing. They knew where Emily was and she shouldn't have to spend another night in the hands of her kidnapper. If he had searched the surrounding area more thoroughly, Emily would be safe at the hotel.

JJ came up to him, laying a calming hand on his arm. "Hotch is right," she said softly. "We need to keep our cool. Emily wouldn't want us to rush in like a loose cannon. She'll want us to play it smart."

He gazed into her blue eyes and let out a deep sigh of resignation. "I know, JJ. You're always right. I just want Emily back."

"We all do," she said with a gentle smile.

* * *

Lewis Sutton drummed his fingers angrily on the steering wheel, glaring at the two black SUV's parked in front of his house. How the hell did his captive's buddies find out about him? He cursed under his breath. It had to be that damn waitress at the diner. He always hated the bitch.

"Aren't we going home, Daddy?" Allie asked sleepily.

He stared at his daughter who was curled up against the car door, struggling to stay awake. "No. Because you couldn't keep your mouth shut, we'll have to bunk down somewhere else."

Allie cringed at his words. Sutton was seriously regretting bringing his daughter along. He should have had locked the brat in the root cellar with her mommy. Of course, he would have had to tie her up so that she couldn't help his captive escape. Now he was forced to find somewhere else to sleep and head back to the cabin first thing in the morning. He smiled wickedly. He just might have to punish Emily for her team's interference. Sutton put the truck into reverse and drove off into the darkness, imagining what kind of punishment he would dish out to her.

* * *

_Yay! The team made progress. They know who took Emily and where he has here. Now check in next week to see what Emily has been up to in the meantime. But before you go, don't forget to tell me what you think. Until next week._


	16. Chapter 15

_Welcome back, everyone. Now I know you all want to know what Emily has been up to since she wasn't in last weeks. So go read and enjoy._

* * *

Emily was jolted awake by a crash overhead. Her sleep had been intermittent, leaving her confused with each waking so it took her a moment to remember where she was. She had been dreaming on and off that Derek had come to the cabin and found her, freed her from her restraints and had taken her home. But reality quickly replaced fantasy. She was still trapped, gagged, bound hand and foot; in darkness so thick that time lost all meaning. Emily could no longer be sure how long she had been confined in this cramp space. For all she knew a few hours or a few days had passed. There was one constant that kept her company; the dull throbbing in her back that never went away.

Heavy footsteps from above drew her attention to the ceiling. Her captor had returned and judging from the cursing and the stomping she was hearing, he was pissed. That did not bode well for her. There came the scraping noise of the footlocker being dragged across the floor and the trap door was thrown back with a loud thud.

Light spilled down into the cellar, blinding eyes that had grown accustomed to the oppressive darkness. Emily squinted and turned her head away from the glare. She heard, more than saw, him descend the ladder. By the time her eyes had adjusted to the light, Sutton was towering over her, hammer in hand and a murderous glint in his eyes. He reached down and ripped the gag off. Emily turned her head to one side and spat out the rag he had stuffed in her mouth.

"We're leaving," he growled at her.

"Why, Sir?" she rasped, running a dry tongue over parched lips. The cloth gag had absorbed all the moisture in her mouth.

"One of your buddies was here." He flicked Derek's business card at her. Emily wanted to grin at the news but knew that would only enrage him. "But by the time they get here, we'll be long gone."

Her expectation of pending rescue came crashing back to earth. If she lets him take her elsewhere, then all hope would be lost. His next hideaway would be way off the beaten path and secluded. She would never be found. _I have to stall him but how?_ Her ability to escape was still hindered by the shackles.

Sutton knelt next to her feet to unwrap the chain from around the stake. "I would prefer to leave you in the shackles but we have to cover a lot of ground in a short amount of time and they would slow you down."

He pulled out a screwdriver to use with the hammer and twisted the cuff around to give him easy access to the locking pin. Before he started, he flashed her a wicked grin. "But don't you worry, Emily. When we get to my other cabin down south, I'll have you back in your shackles in no time flat. I don't want you to feel naked without them. And I have a pair of manacles that will fit nicely around your wrists."

Sutton laughed deeply when he caught the look of dismay flicker across her face at the thought of additional restraints. He had her full attention now. "On the hike back, it occurred to me that no matter how severely I punish you, there will always be a part of you that will continue to try to escape. So if I keep you permanently chained hand and foot in the cabin, it won't happen. I'm also thinking of adding an iron collar, welded shut of course, to control you when I allow you outside."

The thought of being chained like an animal and led around like a dog for the rest of her life sent a cold, numbing chill throughout her body. Emily would rather die fighting for her freedom than living crippled in mind and body in that hell.

Finished with his taunts and threats, Sutton focused his attention on removing the shackles. Emily held her tongue as pain flared in her ankles as he hammered the pin loose. Minutes later, the pins were out and the shackles were off. To Emily it had felt like she had been wearing them for four years and not four days.

While Sutton went to work on the rope lashing her body to the support column, Emily had the first look at the damage the rough metal had caused. Angry red rings, a half an inch wide, encircled both ankles. Mixed in among the abrasions were bruises and cuts of various depths and lengths. Some were scabbed over; others were oozing beads of blood. She brought her knees up, reveling in how light her legs felt.

A hard yank on her wrists reminded Emily that while the shackles were gone, she was still under the control of her captor. He reinforced it by whispering in her ear. "You move a muscle, I'll slice your throat open."

"I won't, Sir," she promised.

He released her hands from their binding but maintained a tight grip on one of her wrists. He jerked her to her feet. Emily used her free hand to latch on to the column, using it to keep her upright on stiff and shaky legs that had been confined too long in one position.

"Give me your other hand," he ordered.

Emily spread her feet to maintain her balance and let go of the column. Sutton began to wind the rope back around her wrists. "Sir, if you tie my hands, I won't be able to climb the ladder."

He struck her hard on her already bruised cheek, splitting it open. "Don't tell me what I can and cannot do," he growled.

"I'm sorry, Sir. I won't do it again," she apologized, dropping her eyes to her partially bound hands."

"Daddy?"

Sutton looked over his shoulder to see Allie standing at the base of the ladder. "What are you doing down here? You're supposed to be packing," he demanded.

"I don't want to," she said in a small voice.

"What did you say?"

"I don't want to go," she repeated louder. "I like it here."

In a controlled and deep tone Sutton directed his words to his daughter. " I don't care. Get up there and pack. We. Are. Leaving."

Allie's face contorted suddenly and like a light switch going on, an ear-piercing screech erupted from her. "Nooo!" she persisted and threw herself in front of the ladder. Arms crossed, a scowl scrunching up her face.

"Don't push me child!" He threatened.

"NO! NO! NO! NO!" she repeated again and again, her whining voice like nails scrapping down a long chalkboard.

Emily felt Sutton tense more as her tantrum began to push his limits. _That's it, Allie-gator; keep antagonizing him,_ she mentally cheered on the little girl. _Ramp it up a little more._ She dropped her eyes back down to the hand he had wrapped around her wrist.

Suddenly through the dim light an object sailed through the air. The soft stuffed bear met its mark, hitting him squarely in the face. Edgar did little damage, but the intention behind it was enough to send the man to the edge and over it.

"You'll pay for that, you little brat!" He hollered, letting go of Emily's wrist and turning his back on her.

Emily didn't hesitate. Yanking her hands apart, she jumped on his back. Wrapping the rope around his neck, she pulled back as hard as she could. Sutton bellowed like a bull elephant, hands coming up to grapple with the ligature, trying to get his fingers between the rope and his throat. Emily pulled it tighter.

Sutton switched tactics. Roaring again, he flung his body backwards, slamming Emily into the wall, hoping to knock her loose. Emily bit down on a cry of pain when her back collided with the stone wall, reopening some of the welts on her back but managed to hold on. He spun and smashed them into the shelves, sending the cans of food raining down on the floor, making stepping treacherous.

Emily gritted her teeth against a new wave of pain. She could feel him weakening; his struggles becoming feebler so she tightened her grip on the rope and pulled back harder. Sutton's face began to turn blue as she slowly cut off his supply of oxygen. In desperation, he flung his fists over his shoulders, striking ineffectually at her arms, desperate to break her grip. One fist did manage to catch her on the jaw, making her see stars.

Lashing out with one foot, she kicked him in the back of the legs and dropped him to his knees. Now she had leverage. Emily put her knee in the small of his back and leaned backwards, teeth bared, pulling as hard as she could. Her knuckles were white on the rope and her arms shook from the strain. Sutton let out a gurgle as his eyes slowly rolled into his head, fingers weakly scratching at her hands. When she felt him start to go limp, she shoved him forward, smashing his head into the nearest wall, knocking him out the rest of the way.

Emily didn't stop to catch her breath. She jumped over Sutton's prone body, grabbed Allie by the arm and propelled the startled little girl up the ladder. "Go! Go! Go!" she urged, scrambling up behind her.

She surged through the opening, spun around and slammed the trap door shut with a resounding thud. Then Emily pulled the footlocker back into place and, as a safety precaution, dragged the other footlocker over and piled it on top of the other. She wasn't sure how long it would hold Sutton off once he woke up but she wasn't going to stick around to find out.

On the table in the main room, she found two packed backpacks and her boots and fleece pullover. Emily didn't think there was enough time to search the packs for a weapon so she grabbed her boots and pulled them on, hastily tying them while ignoring the pain of the socks rubbing against the sores on her ankles. She yanked the jacket on over her head and slipped her arms into the sleeves.

Emily turned and held out her hand to Allie who was standing next to the table, thumb in mouth and Edgar, the furry projectile, tight to her chest. "Allie-gator, it's time to go. You still want to come with me?"

Torn, Allie first looked at Emily and then back into the bedroom. She loved her daddy and her new mommy but her daddy could be scary at times and her new mommy had just proven that she could be too. The loud thump of Sutton hurtling his body against the trapdoor and the string of cursing that followed, made the decision for her. Allie rushed over to Emily's side.

Emily smiled as the little girl slid her tiny hand into hers. "That's my Allie-gator," she said and gave it a squeeze. "Let's go."

The two hurried outside and Emily, once again, heard the siren call of freedom beckoning her. This time she was going to follow it.

"Which way is it back to town?" she asked the little girl.

"That way," she responded and pointed in a southeasterly direction.

Emily nodded and came to the realization that to evade her captor, they would have to move quickly. She knelt down so that she was eye level with the little girl. "Allie, we need to get out of here fast so I need you to climb on to my back so that I can carry you."

Her eyes widened. "Piggyback?"

"Yes, piggyback," Emily confirmed with a smile. "But you'll have to give me Edgar. You can't hold on to him and me at the same time. He can ride in my jacket."

Without a second thought, Allie solemnly handed her prize possession over. Emily stuffed Edgar down the front of her jacket, making a show of placing him just right so that he could see out. Allie then scrambled onto Emily's back, wrapping her arms and legs around her mommy's neck and waist. Standing back up, she winced in pain as Allie's weight aggravated the lash marks. Emily took a deep breath, pushed the pain to one side and plunged into the woods.

* * *

Emily ran. She ran like there was no tomorrow. She ran not only to save her own life but also the life of the little girl who clung to her back like a barnacle to a ship's hull. Her lungs burned with every breath, the welts on her back throbbed with each beat of her hear, her legs ached with each pounding step but she did not stop. She could not stop even though her body was begging her to. Emily had no intention of dying today or any time in the near future especially on the side of some god-forsaken mountain.

She cast a quick glance over her shoulder without breaking stride. There was no sign of her captor but she could hear him crashing through the woods behind her. He had gotten free and was getting closer, she realized. Emily dug into her reserves and put on a burst of speed ignoring the pressure as Allie tightened her death hold around Emily's neck and waist.

A loud crack filled the air and a chunk of bark blew away from the tree next to her. She veered sharply to the right and hurtled a fallen tree trunk. _Fuck_, she silently swore. She had forgotten about the revolver Sutton had cleaned in front of her the other day_. Oh well_, she thought ruefully_, one shot down, five shots to dodge_.

"One," she hissed through clenched teeth.

CRACK! CRACK! The ground at her feet erupted in a shower of dirt and leaves.

"Two. Three." Her blood was pounding in her ears.

Emily plunged down an embankment at full speed, arms wind milling to maintain her precarious balance. CRACK! The bullet tore into the tree to her right.

"Four!" she wheezed, her lungs feeling like they were ready to burst.

Emily didn't know how much longer she could keep up this grueling pace. She stumbled as he fired, the bullet sailing harmlessly over her head.

"F…five!" her breath came out in short gasps.

She dodged around a large rock as the last shot rang out. The loud crack was then followed by a sharp ping. Emily's leg exploded in pain. It buckled and her forward momentum sent her crashing to ground. Knees first then her outstretched hands, small pebbles digging into her palms. Elbows followed painfully and ended with her chin scraping the ground. Stars danced before her eyes and what little breath she had left in a sudden whoosh.

Allie, jarred lose by the impact, tumbled over Emily's head. Instinctively Emily's hands shot out, snagged the little girl by the legs and pulled her back, tucking her underneath her body forming a human shield over the small child.

Clutching the child as tight to her chest as she could, she peeked over her shoulder as she struggled to catch her breath. Sutton came barreling up, eyes wild, mouth curled into a sneer and blood oozing down his face from when she had slammed him into the wall

He skidded to halt and pointed the gun at her head. "You bitch!" he snarled. "You took my daughter!"

"I did," she said coolly though her heart was beating a thousand beats a minute. "You wanted me to take care of her and I am."

"Let go of her!" he screamed at her.

Emily could feel Allie trembling in her arms. "No."

"Then you die," he growled and squeezed the trigger. Click. Stunned he tried again. Click. Click.

"I think you are out of ammo," Emily said with a wicked grin.

With a roar of frustration Sutton pitched the empty gun to one side, pulled the hunting knife from its sheath on his belt and lunged. Emily hunched over the little girl, closed her eyes and waited for the biting pain of the knife sinking into her back. Guess she was wrong. Today was her day to die.

* * *

BAM! BAM! The sound of multiple shots echoed in her ears followed by a loud thump. Emily cracked open one eye. Sutton laid on the ground next to her, moaning and clutching at his bloody shoulder. She looked up to see Derek standing grim faced, gun pointing at the downed suspect. In the distance she could see the rest of the team and two SWAT guys running to catch up.

Emily sat up and let out the breath she had been holding. Allie, frightened by the gunshots and the new strangers, snaked up Emily's body and wrapped her thin arms around her neck. Emily put her arms around her and ran one hand slowly up and down the little girl's back in comfort.

Emily smiled in relief. "You have no idea how glad I am to see you guys," she said when the rest of the team reached her.

While Dave and Hotch went to help the SWAT guys subdue Sutton and drag him as far away from Emily as possible, JJ knelt down next to her. She ran her eyes over her friend, noting the split lip, the cut and bruised cheek, the cut across her nose, the freshly scraped chin and the bruising under both eyes. "Are you—"?

"I'm fine," Emily cut her off and shook her head indicating she didn't want to talk about her injuries right now.

JJ nodded her agreement and turned her attention to the little blonde girl clinging to Emily. "Who's this?" She asked, giving her a friendly smile.

The child eyed her suspiciously as Emily said, "This is my new friend Allie. Allie, this is one of my best friends, JJ."

JJ gave her a little wave. "Hi, Allie." Allie eyed her before shyly waving back.

Derek, who had been staring at her with an extreme look of guilt and relief on his face, hunkered down on Emily's other side. He wanted to apologize to her for not doing his job in protecting her but knew this was not the time. It was something he had to do in private. Instead he asked, "What happened?"

"One moment, Derek," Emily said quickly then turned her attention back to the little girl. "Allie, would it be all right with you if JJ held you for a little bit? I need to talk to my other best friend Morgan here."

"Hey, Cutie," he said.

Allie thought it over for a minute then nodded. She released her grip on Emily's neck and crawled into JJ's lap. Then she held out her hand and said, "Edgar."

"Right. Edgar," Emily said with a smile. She surprised everyone when she reached into the front of her jacket and pulled out a one-eared teddy bear. Allie beamed and grabbed the bear out of her hand and hugged him to her chest. She let JJ wrap her arms around her while she brought her thumb to her mouth and started sucking on it, never taking her eyes off Emily.

Emily turned back to Derek.

"What happened?" he asked again. "I could see you running with a full head of steam when you went down suddenly."

She shook her head. "I don't know. I heard the shot then there was a pinging noise and next thing I know my leg was on fire and I'm on the ground."

Derek frowned. "Which one?"

"Left."

He carefully ran his hands down her leg. When he touched her ankle, she tensed and bit back a cry of pain. He paused then looked closer.

"I think you got hit by a ricochet," he said, gently prodding the area with a finger. "That was the pinging noise you heard. Looks like it struck you right above the boot and took out a chunk of flesh. It's bleeding but not too badly."

"It still hurts like hell," she complained.

"I'm sure it does. We need to get a bandage on it and hopefully stop the bleeding."

"Here," Dave said, pulling a handkerchief out of his pocket. He too had been staring at Emily, glad to have her back. She looked a little worse for wear but who wouldn't after being held captive for four days.

"Thanks," Derek said.

He took it and wrapped it around the wound. Emily hissed in pain and dug her fingers into the soft ground. He sat back on his heels and admired his handy work.

"I think we should splint the ankle as a precaution. We don't know how much damage the bullet might have done. It might have cracked one or both bones."

Derek glanced around and scooped up a fallen branch. He snapped it in two and laid the pieces on both sides of Emily's ankle. "Now we need something to secure them with," he mused, looking around.

His eyes fell on two of the team. "Hotch, Reid. I need your ties." The two agents quickly removed them and handed them over.

With help from Dave, Derek soon had Emily's injured ankle secured in a temporary splint. Then the men each took a hold of Emily's arm.

"Ready?" Derek asked her.

"Ready," she said with a nod.

Both men gently raised her to her feet then slung her arms over their shoulders and wrapped their free arms around her waist. She grimaced in pain when one of their hands bushed her back, but the two men thought it was from the pain in her leg.

"You okay?" Derek asked before they set off.

"Yes. Just get me off this damn mountain."

Hotch walked briskly over to them, walkie-talkie in hand. "There are medics at the base camp. They said they could meet us half way with a portable stretcher."

Emily shook her head. "Please, Hotch, no. I would like to walk out of here on my own good foot."

"Don't you mean hop?" Derek asked with a cheeky grin. His heart lightened when she smiled at his teasing.

Hotch studied her for a moment and Emily returned it with a look of determination of her own. "Alright," he conceded, "but let us know if you get tired."

"I will."

He nodded and spoke into the walkie-talkie telling the medics that they weren't needed and to wait for them at the command post.

Emily let out a small sigh of relief. She really didn't want to be hauled down the mountain like a sack of potatoes. She said to her two companions, "Let's get this show on the road and get me the hell out of here."

Derek chuckled. "Your wish is my command."

* * *

_Yay! Emily and Allie has escaped from Sutton and the team found her just in the nick of time. Please let me know what you thought. Reviews are very much appreciated. Do check in next week to see the aftermath. Until then._


	17. Chapter 16

_Hello, everyone. I first want to thank you to everyone who reviewed and pushed this story over the 100 reviews mark. I honestly wasn't expecting to hit that high mark until this week but I will gladly take it earlier. Now on to the aftermath of Emily's ordeal. Enjoy._

* * *

With their pace considerably slowed by Emily's injury, it took them nearly three hours to traverse the distance from where they had stumbled upon her running for her life and the command post. Several times Derek had asked her if she needed a break. Each time Emily merely shook her head and gritted her teeth against the pain. Her leg and back throbbed with every hop but she kept it to herself, not wanting to make them worry more than they already were.

To get her mind off the pain, she asked, "How did you know where to find me?"

Both men knew that she was referring to how they had managed to appear right at the moment she had needed them the most. "It was sheer dumb luck," Derek said with a rueful smile.

Emily turned brown eyes on him. "Really?"

"Really."

* * *

_Early the next morning, everyone assembled at the ranger station. While they waited for the SWAT team to arrive, Hotch and Head Ranger Daly sequestered themselves in an office to discuss the topography of the area surrounding the cabin and the best way to approach without being seen. At first Daly was reluctant to believe that Lewis Sutton was preying on the unsuspecting women hikers. He stated that he had known Sutton for years through work. During the hunting seasons he was a guide for the hunting parties that were unfamiliar with the park. Hotch had caustically remarked that Sutton was hunting more than just deer._

_While the two men pored over the latest satellite images Garcia had provided, Derek paced outside the office, chaffing at the delay. He hadn't slept well last night, the guilt of not realizing that he had been in the same building Emily was being held in, ate at his soul. _

"_Why the hell aren't we on our way up there?" he demanded. "We're wasting time."_

_Dave was causally leaning against the table with arms crossed, watching the black agent vent. It still amazed him how guilt can change a man. Turn a cool and levelheaded profiler into one that was reckless and impatient._

"_We're giving Sutton time to return to the cabin and retrieve Emily from wherever he had stashed her," the older agent patiently explained._

"_He could have gone back up last night," Derek countered._

_Dave shook his head. "Sutton knows it not smart to hike through the woods at night. He would wait until morning to go. Just relax," he counseled._

_Derek glared at him. "I will when Prentiss is safe back with us," he declared and resumed pacing._

_Two hours later, the team, plus two members of SWAT, were a mile away from the cabin. They were spread out in a line to prevent Sutton from slipping past them. Other teams were deployed in the same arrangement. No one spoke, afraid one uttered word would give them away, making Sutton do something unforgivable. Their weapons were held ready while their eyes constantly scanned the trees before them._

_The crack of a gun firing shattered the quiet. They froze, looking wildly around, trying to pinpoint where it had come from. Hotch thumbed on his mike, demanding to know who had fired their weapon. All the teams responded with a negative._

_Dave and Hotch exchanged concerned looks. "Either we have a poacher on the prowl or it's our UnSub," Dave observed. Hotch nodded in agreement._

_Two more shots in rapid succession had their heads swiveling to the right, but all they saw was trees and rocks._

"_They sounded closer," JJ whispered._

_With the sound of the third shot, they started to move in that direction. The fourth had them breaking out into a fast trot. One of the SWAT guys stopped and pointed. "There!"_

_In the distance a figure appeared at the top of a hill and then barreled down the other side, disappearing from sight. The person, unfortunately, was too far away to make out any distinguishing characteristics. When the figure reemerged, it passed through a shaft of sunlight, highlighting the near black hair._

_Derek's eyes grew wide in recognition. "Prentiss!" he shouted and took off like a bat out of hell, leaving the rest of the team flatfooted._

_As he ran, he kept his eyes glued on his partner and was relieved that she was running in his general direction so that he didn't have to play catch up. It was obvious to him that, though he could see her, Emily had no clue he was coming. The fifth shot barely registered on his consciousness, but the sixth one did. Derek's heart leapt into his throat when he saw her fall. _

"_The bastard just shot her," he swore and put on a burst of speed._

_When he crested the final hill, he found Sutton towering over Emily with a knife in his hand. She was hunched over as if she was protecting something. Sutton lunged, bringing the knife down at her unprotected back. Derek, without thinking, raised his gun and fired two shots into Sutton's shoulder, knocking him to the ground and away from Emily. He_ _hurried over and stood grim faced, his gun pointing at the downed UnSub. He glanced at Emily just as she looked up at him and he could see the relief in her eyes._

* * *

"Thank you," she said softly when he was done.

"Always," he said, giving her arm a squeeze. Emily smiled and the three continued on in companionable silence.

From the safety of JJ's arms, Allie kept her eyes glued to Emily. She was afraid that if she closed them, even for a second, Emily would disappear like the other women before her. So she fought off the drowsiness that threaten to consume her.

Hotch was walking with JJ and Reid, just behind and off to right of Derek, Emily and Dave. He glanced over at JJ and could see that her arms were growing tired from carrying the little girl. He knew from experience how heavy a child could get.

He mentally switched from agent to father.

"Allie, would it be all right if I carry you for a little while?" He looked on hopefully, eyebrows raised and a tender smile on his face.

Allie's response was to shrink against JJ. She clutched Edgar tighter and stuck her thumb in her mouth, sucking furiously on it.

Emily overhearing the question, looked back over her shoulder. "Allie, honey, it is okay," she said encouraging. "Hotch is my friend. He won't hurt you."

Allie eyeballed him before reluctantly allowing to be transferred between the two agents. Within minutes of being settled against Hotch's broad shoulder she was sound asleep. Emily smiled at the scene before turning her attention back to ground before her to make she didn't trip over a rock or a downed branch.

The team's spirits soared when the command post finally came into view, swarming with what looked like from a distance dozen of ants. Two medics, who had been on the lookout for them, dashed up to them and took over for the agents and helped Emily down the last one hundred yards to the waiting ambulance.

* * *

The sounds of the noisy command post jarred Allie from her sleep. She blinked at her surroundings and immediately shrank against Hotch's chest, frightened by all the people and the activity. Frantically sucking her thumb she looked around for Emily. She began to panic when she couldn't find her. Finally she spotted her being helped onto the stretcher by the ambulance. A scary thought went through Allie's head; _they're taking my Mommy away!_

"Mommy!" Allie screamed at the top of her lungs and started pummeling Hotch with her small fists and feet.

Hotch struggled to hold on but it only made her fight back harder. In the end he was forced to put her down because he was afraid that he might drop her. Allie torn free from his grasp and fled.

"Mommy! Mommy!" she cried out.

Emily looked up to see the frightened little girl racing toward her, tears coursing down her checks. She held out her arms to the child. Allie saw the gesture and put on a burst of speed. She scaled the stretcher like a nimble monkey and wrapped her thin arms around Emily's neck burying her head in her shoulder sobbing.

Emily hugged her tightly. "It's okay, Allie-gator. I've got you," she said softly, rocking her. "I'm not going anywhere without you."

The team stood around their fellow agent observing the odd scene playing out before them. Eventually Emily was able to calm the child and resettled her next to her on the stretcher. She kept a protective arm around Allie's shoulders as the child pressed against her side, thumb in mouth, Edgar squeezed between them.

Reid was the first to voice the question that was on the tip of everyone's tongues. "Mommy?"

Emily smiled wanly. "I'll tell all of you later. I really will."

Hotch nodded. "I know you will." He turned to Reid and JJ. "I want both of you to accompany Prentiss to the hospital. The rest of us will catch up with you when things are wrapped up here."

Everyone nodded in agreement. Meanwhile one of the medics shook out a blanket and draped it over Emily's shoulders who involuntarily winced at its contact. JJ took note of the reaction and knowing her friend as she did, the brunette wouldn't mention it to the doctor so JJ decided to take it upon herself and do it for her even if it meant Emily got mad at her.

"We need to get going," the senior medic spoke up as Emily wrapped part of the blanket around her charge.

"Of course," Hotch said and gestured for everyone to step back so that the medics could load the stretcher and its precious cargo into the back of the ambulance. "Take care, Prentiss. We'll see you later."

Emily nodded her thanks before disappearing from sight when the medic closed the ambulance doors.

Hotch pulled JJ to one side before she could leave. "JJ, we are going to need photos of all of Emily's injuries and a rape kit for the courts."

JJ frowned and shook her head. "Emily's not going to like being treated as a victim, Hotch."

"She is a victim," he said frankly. "But she is also a survivor."

JJ sighed and nodded as she watched the ambulance bounce down the road. "Right." She tried to sound convincing and forced a small smile. Without another word, she went and climbed into the SUV and stared out the window.

As Reid started the car, he glanced over at her. "JJ, what's wrong?" he asked, concern wrinkling his brow.

"Hotch, wants me to treat Emily like a victim and get documentation of all her injuries and do a rape kit. And…I don't know." She hesitated and looked back to Reid, unsure how to formulate her concern. "Emily is so strong and it's hard to see past her walls. Something bad happened up there."

"She survived, unlike the other women Sutton took." Reid tried to reassure her.

"I know, but it's all going to come out in court. Emily can deal with it as long as no one else knows. But it's about to be exposed for all to see. I just worry how it will affect her." JJ grew quiet again.

Reid had no words; he understood the concern she had. Emily could compartmentalize whatever happened to her, but it was a different story when those compartments were ripped out and thrown around for others to sift through and analyze without her say so.

* * *

The remaining three men stood side by side, silently watching both vehicles slowly bump their way over the uneven terrain on their way to the hospital.

Derek couldn't hold in his temper any longer and erupted. "Did you see her face? He hit her! And I'm scared of what else that bastard did to her that we can't see!" He gestured angrily at the departing ambulance.

"JJ is going to find that out for us," Hotch said, crossing his arms and frowned.

Though it didn't show on the outside, he was just as angry as Derek was. He couldn't even begin to imagine the kind of hell Emily had lived through for the past four days. But as he had told JJ, Emily was a survivor and a fighter; she would eventually bounce back from this a stronger woman.

The dark agent looked around for something to punch, anything to help him release his pent up frustration. But all around him was nothing but trees and a scattering of rocks. Hitting one of them would only result in him breaking his hand. Someone shouting captured his attention. Derek turned to see two members of SWAT escorting a handcuffed and irate Sutton to the second ambulance.

Sutton spotted the three agents and lunged at them. "Where's that bitch?" he shouted as he was pulled back. "I want my daughter back!"

Derek saw red and surged forward, only to be restrained by Dave's powerful grip on his arm. "Don't," the older agent cautioned.

"He deserves the same beating he gave Prentiss," he said in a low voice, fury burning in his eyes.

"I wholeheartedly agree. But beating the crap out of Sutton isn't going to solve anything. It would only result in you being suspended or worse, reassigned."

Derek let out a snort of disgust but made no further effort to get to Sutton. The two SWAT guy shoved the still cursing Sutton in the ambulance.

Hotch stepped up. "Dave is right, Morgan. The best thing you can do is to focus on nailing Sutton. Head back to the cabin and turn that place inside out. We need to find the evidence to add murder to his list charges besides the ones for kidnapping and assault on a Federal officer. I don't want him to see the light of day ever."

"You got it," Derek reluctantly agreed and went to collect a couple of rangers to go back with him.

Dave gazed back in the direction the ambulance had gone. "She's one tough agent," he said in admiration.

"Prentiss is one of the best. We'll lucky to have her," Hotch said before turning to talk with the Head Ranger.

"I'll take her in my corner any day," Dave said quietly to himself.

* * *

In the ambulance, Emily gazed at the roof, idly rubbing her hand up and down the arm of the little girl cuddled into her side. She paid little attention to the medic as took her vitals and hooked her up to an IV. She only spoke up when he turned his attention to her injured ankle, asking him that if he had to remove the makeshift splint, not to cut the ties Derek had used to hold it in place. She wanted to return them intact to Hotch and Reid. The medic said he would try to do his best.

She returned to her contemplation of the roof of the ambulance. She had managed to escape one difficult situation but there was another one she still had to face. What was she going to do about Allie? It was obvious that the little girl was deeply attached to her, even up to the point of loving her like she was her actual mother. And what about herself? How did she feel about Allie? In the days they had been together, she had also grown fond of the child. Emily brought her free hand up to rub her forehead in confusion but stopped when the IV tugged at it. Yes, she had promised to take Allie somewhere else where she could be happy. _But is that place with me? Or with someone else who was a family member? __But the million-dollar question is: am I ready to take on that kind of responsibility?_ And at the moment, she wasn't sure she was.

The medic finished applying a clean bandage to the gunshot wound. "Would you like something for the pain?" he asked when he saw her grimacing.

"No. I'm good," she lied. The leg was throbbing, that she couldn't deny, but not in the same way it did when she had broken the ankle in two places.

He nodded and as he rechecked the IV, she glanced down to check on Allie and found her sound asleep with her head resting Emily's chest. Edgar was squashed between them. She ruffled the little girl's hair tenderly; thinking that taking a nap wasn't a bad idea. That mad dash down the mountainside carrying Allie had taken a lot out of her. She shifted, trying to find a comfortable position, hiding a twinge of pain when the welts on her back rubbed against the stretcher mattress. Emily closed her eyes and let the hum of tires on pavement lull her to sleep.

* * *

_Hmmm...Emily doesn't seem sure what she is going to do about Allie. Do come back next week to find out. This story is wrapping up so there aren't a lot of chapters left. Can't tell you how many because I still don't know. But before you go, please continue to let me know what you think. Until then._


	18. Chapter 17

_Hello everyone, welcome back. A big thanks for all the reviews, so much appreciate. Now go read and enjoy._

* * *

JJ moved to one side as a flustered doctor emerged from the examination room the nurse had told her Emily was in. She smiled, familiar with Emily's penchant to argue with her doctors.

"What did you say to him?" she asked as she stepped into the room.

Emily gave her a noncommittal shrug from where she sat on the exam bed. Her injured foot, still in the temporary splint, was propped up and Allie sat in her lap, playing with Edgar. "I only insisted on a woman doctor who also specializes in kids. I need to get Allie checked out first."

"That sounds like a reasonable request," JJ observed as she sat down. She gave Allie a little wave that was returned shyly. "So why is he mad?"

"I refused treatment until he got the doctor I wanted."

JJ shook her head in amusement at another one of Emily's wonderful and sometimes frustrating traits. She was always putting the welfare of others ahead of her own. She leaned forward in the chair. "Emily, we were so worried—"

Emily cut her off. "JJ, I don't want to talk about it, especially here."

"Okay," JJ said, giving in. "But you do know you will have to at some point."

"I know. Just not right now."

JJ nodded and made herself more comfortable in the uncomfortable chair. The door to the exam room opened and a woman with a kind face and gray hair entered. "I'm Doctor Nolan," she said, holding out her hand to Emily.

"Agent Emily Prentiss. And this here is Allie," she introduced, gesturing to the little girl who shrank against her chest. "I need you to give her a complete check over. Her father was a abuser and I want to make sure he didn't hurt her." She locked eyes with the doctor. "And I mean in any way."

Dr. Nolan nodded, clearly understanding what Emily was implying. She bent down and smiled at Allie. "Hi, Allie. I'm just going to take a look at you. You can stay on your mommy's lap if you want to."

Allie thought about it and nodded.

"Good girl," the doctor said and started her examination.

JJ stayed out of the way, allowing her to observe the interaction between her friend and the little girl. Emily kept her arms around Allie for the entire exam, whispering words of comfort in her ear to keep her calm. When the doctor had a nurse come in to draw some blood, she distracted her with a silly story. JJ smiled. She had been right on the jet when she had said that she could see Emily with kids. She was a natural.

But it also worried her. It was obvious to JJ that Allie simply adored Emily, judging from the way she was clinging to her. It was normal behavior for a child craving attention from the adults around her. _But what about Emily_, she wondered. Had she been able to maintain the proper emotional distance during her ordeal? Or had she fallen for the little girl? If she had, it was going to be much harder on her when they have to turn Allie over to social services.

Dr. Nolan looked over her notes. "Good news. Allie seems to be in good health though a little underweight for her age. And I don't see any signs of physical or sexual abuse."

Emily breathed a sigh of relief. She had been hoping to hear that. During her captivity, she had been worried that her father had molested her. It was good to know that she was wrong. "Thank you, doctor."

"You're welcome. Now let's get you checked out. Maybe your daughter should wait outside," she said.

When Emily hesitated, JJ spoke up. "Em, Reid is waiting outside. He can watch her for a while. He's so unthreatening that I doubt she'll be frightened of him, though I can't say the same for him."

Emily chuckled at the image of Reid being cowed by a six year old. "Okay." She spoke softly to the little girl. Allie shook her head at the suggestion and clutched Edgar to her chest. Then Emily whispered something else. Allie twisted her head around to look up at her with eyes that were wide in disbelief.

"Really?" she breathed.

"Yup," Emily said with a nod. "Why don't you go with JJ and find out?"

"Okay, Mommy." Allie slid off of Emily's lap and let JJ take her by the hand. With Edgar clutched to her chest, the little girl and JJ disappeared through the door.

Dr. Nolan watched them leave. "What did you tell her, if you don't mind me asking?"

Emily smiled. "Not at all. I told her Reid was a magician. And she's not my daughter," she gently corrected.

"I'm sorry. I just assumed since you are so good with her."

"It's okay," Emily assured her. "She's the daughter of our suspect."

The doctor wanted to ask if she wasn't her daughter then why had she called her mommy, but decided it was none of her business. "Lets take a look at that ankle," she suggested instead.

Emily nodded and the doctor undid the ties on the makeshift splint and set them aside. Then she removed the boot and sock. Carefully she peeled back the bandage, exposing the gunshot wound.

"It's a deep gouge but we can easily stitch that up. I'm more concerned that the bullet might have clipped the tibia so I'm going to have it x-rayed and possibly do a CT scan if the x-rays come up negative. Some hairline fractures don't show up the conventional way."

She ran her hand down to Emily's ankle and gently fingered the bruises, cuts and abrasions around it. She looked questioningly at her. "Do you have a similar injury around your other ankle?"

"Yes." Emily swung her other leg up onto the bed and took off her boot and sock.

A loud gasp made Emily look up. JJ stood in the doorway staring at the damage done to Emily's ankles. She hurried to the exam bed. "What did he do to you?" she asked in a shocked voice.

Emily quickly looked away, sudden shame coloring her cheeks. "He put shackles on to prevent me from running."

It made JJ wonder what else Sutton had done to her friend. Then she remembered when the medic had draped the blanket over her shoulders. "Doctor, I think you should look at her back. I saw her wincing earlier."

Emily whipped her head around to stare at the blonde. "JJ," she warned, automatically tugging the shirt tighter around her body.

"Agent Prentiss, I need to see your back. Could you please remove your shirt?" the doctor kindly asked.

She sighed and slowly unbuttoned the shirt. Staring at the wall, she let it fall from her shoulders, revealing the bloodstained bandages.

"Did…did he whip you?" JJ stammered, staring at the welts crisscrossing Emily's back. Even the doctor was shocked as she removed the makeshift bandages.

"Yes."

"Oh, Emily," JJ moaned, eyes welling with tears for the pain her friend had suffered.

"I don't want your pity," Emily said sharply, glaring over her shoulder at JJ.

Shame surged through JJ and at that moment she realized she had to act as an agent and not as a friend. What she was about to do was going to piss Emily off but it would be worth it if she could help nail Sutton's ass to the wall. She turned to Dr. Nolan.

"We need to document and photograph all of Agent Prentiss' injuries." JJ could feel Emily's angry eyes boring into her, but kept her focus on the doctor.

Dr. Nolan nodded. "I concur. We'll take care of that. I'll have a nurse bring in a gown you can change into, Agent Prentiss," she said and headed for the door.

"I'm not a victim," Emily said through clenched teeth as soon as the two agents were alone.

JJ clamped down on the anger she felt for Sutton and forced herself to remain calm. "Yes, Emily, you are," she said softly.

She wanted to lie a comforting had on her friend's arm, but judging by Emily's body language, the touch would be unwelcome. Emily's walls were up and impregnable. "But you're also a survivor. You endured the beatings and still managed to escape. And in the end, you saved a little girl from her abusive father."

Emily looked away. "I'm not a victim," she repeated and jerked the shirt back up, ignoring the pain the motion caused.

JJ sighed. It was obvious that Emily still needed time to process what had actually happened to her. Right now she was in denial and arguing with her wasn't going to change her mind. Unfortunately she still had another little bomb to drop on her friend. "We also have to do a rape kit."

"No," she said adamantly.

"Emily, did he—?"

"I said no." Emily turned to her, eyes flashing with indignation. "He never touched me. Yes, he taunted me about doing it but he never acted on it. He preferred to use me as his personal punching bag."

"Still—"

"Why? It will just prove that he didn't rape me. Isn't my word that he didn't not good enough for you?"

JJ blew out a breath in frustration. Emily's arguments were legitimate, but she was thinking about the future. "Of course it is. I would never doubt you, Emily. If you say he didn't, then he didn't. I'm just afraid his lawyer would use your refusal to have one done as a way to discredit your testimony."

Emily sighed, dropping her eyes to her hands and rubbed a thumb over the rope burn on her wrist. "Fine," she grumbled.

JJ simply nodded, knowing there was nothing more she could say. An uneasy silence filled the room until it was broken by the nurse returning with the hospital gown for Emily to change into.

"Do you want me to stay?" JJ asked as the nurse unhooked the IV so that Emily could get her shirt off.

"No," she said, not wanting JJ to witness this latest round of humiliation. It was bad enough that she had seen the lash marks.

"Okay. I'll be just outside the door if you want me to come back in at anytime."

"Thanks but I doubt I will," Emily said, still looking at her hands.

JJ didn't know how to answer that so she left. On the way out, JJ met the doctor heading back in. "I managed to get Agent Prentiss to agree to a rape kit," she told her.

Dr. Nolan nodded. "That's good," she said and laid a hand on JJ's arm. "Don't worry about your friend. We'll take good care of her. I know this is going to be hard on her."

"Thank you, doctor," she said sincerely.

"No problem. You might as well make yourself comfortable. When we done here, I'll be sending her for x-rays and a CT scan."

JJ nodded and went out to the waiting room. There she found Allie and Reid sitting side by side and almost laughed out loud. The two were eyeballing each other as if they were aliens from outer space.

"Hey," she said, settling into the chair next to Allie.

"Hey," Reid answered back, relief painted across his face that he no longer had to baby sit. "How is Emily doing?"

"Okay," she said vaguely. "They're photographing her injuries now."

Allie switched her attention from the odd, skinny man with the long hair to the nice, pretty lady. "I want to go and see my Mommy."

JJ reached over and ran her fingers through the girl's blonde locks. "Not yet, Sweetie."

The little girl frowned. She clutched Edgar tighter to her chest and started to suck her thumb. "Why not?" she lisped around the thumb.

"When the doctor gets finished examining Emily, she has to have her ankle x-rayed. It's going to take some time."

"What's a x-ray?" Allie asked, scrunching up her face at the unfamiliar word.

"X-rays or radiography, as it is called in the medical field, is a technique used to view the internal workings of the human body. The density and composition of an area determines…"

Allie stared at him dumbfounded, eyes wide, her thumb frozen halfway out her mouth. JJ reached behind her to slap Reid lightly on the arm. "Spence…" she cautioned.

Reid blinked in confusion. "What?"

"I think that's a little too technical for a six year old."

"I was only trying to answer her question," he pointed out.

Allie found her voice and turned to JJ. "He's weird."

JJ laughed lightly. "More like unique, I think. What Dr. Reid is trying to say is that an x-ray is a way to take a picture of the inside of Emily's foot. With it you can see the bones and any cracks in them."

"Oh," Allie said with an understanding nod. "That's cool."

"It is," JJ agreed.

The three fell silent, staring in the direction of the exam room. After a few minutes, Allie began to shift restlessly in her chair. "I want to see Mommy," she whined.

JJ could see that the little girl was teetering on the edge of having a tantrum. "Tell you what," she said, rising to her feet and holding out her hand. "Why don't the two of us go for a little walk? Maybe by the time we get back, Emily will be done."

Allie studied the hand before nodding and taking it. "Okay."

"I'll stay here in case Emily needs anything," Reid volunteered.

"Good idea." JJ smiled down at the little girl and together they headed outside.

* * *

Back in the examination room, Emily had changed into the hospital gown and was now staring at a spot on the wall while the doctor and nurse documented her injuries. They photographed her from top to bottom, capturing on film all the damage Sutton had done to her. The cuts and bruises on her face, the fourteen lash marks on her back, the boot size bruise over her ribs, the rope burns on her wrists, the gunshot wound and finally the cuts and abrasions around her ankles. Now she understood what it felt like to be examined under a microscope.

Emily tried to distance herself from the procedure. She maintained a neutral expression and only spoke when spoken to. She didn't volunteer to help. Instead, she only complied when asked to hold out her hands or to turn her head so that they had a better camera angle. In her mind, Emily kept repeating 'I'm not a victim' because she wasn't ready or willing to admit yet that she was.

The light touch of Dr. Nolan's hand on her shoulder pulled Emily out of the deep recesses of her mind. "We're all done, Agent Prentiss. You did really well." Emily just smiled. "Now I'm going to send you to radiography and get a few x-rays of your ankle and ribs. Is that okay?"

"It's fine," she said.

"Good. Barbara is going to fetch a wheelchair and I'll see you a little later. Hopefully they aren't backed up down there."

"Hopefully," Emily agreed and watched the doctor leave.

A few minutes later, the nurse returned with the wheelchair. Emily refused her help and settled into it, wishing she had a robe to wear. Hospital gowns always made her feel naked, especially from the rear. After transferring the IV over, the nurse pushed out the door and down the hall. Emily sat back to enjoy the ride, relieved that the worse part was now over.

* * *

When Emily was returned to the exam room, she found JJ and Allie waiting for her.

"Mommy!" Allie cried out in delight and launched herself at Emily, wrapping her thin arms around the profiler who was halfway out of the wheelchair.

"Hey, Allie-gator," she said, abruptly sitting back down.

"I missed you," she said, settling into Emily's lap.

"I missed you too," Emily said, returning the hug. "Did Reid show you some cool magic tricks?"

"Uh huh," Allie said, nodding her head. "He's funny but weird."

"Weird?" Emily looked at JJ in confusion. The liaison told her about Reid's over complex explanation of how x-rays work. She chuckled. "And that's why we like him."

"Can we go home now, Mommy?"

"Not yet, I'm afraid. The doctor isn't finished with me yet," Emily explained.

"Oh," Allie said in disappointment, sagging back against Emily's chest.

"Agent Prentiss? I need to get you situated back on the exam bed," spoke up the nurse who had been quietly standing behind the wheelchair.

Emily nodded. "Right." She set Allie down and without anyone's help, got out of the wheelchair and back up on the bed. Once she was settled, the little girl scrambled up and cuddled into her side.

"Who is this?" Emily asked, noticing for the first time that, in addition to Edgar, Allie was now holding a stuffed black horse with a white star.

Allie grinned and held up the horse for Emily to see. "His name is Geordie."

"We were walking past the gift shop and she saw him in the window," JJ explained. "It was love at first sight."

"I think he is adorable," Emily said, making the little girl's grin widen. "So what tricks did Reid show you?"

Suddenly shy, Allie snuggled closer to Emily and told her all about it in a soft whisper. Halfway through, Dr. Nolan returned with a smile on her face. The room fell silent as all eyes turned to her. She slapped the x-rays on the light box. Allie leaned forward, eyes wide, staring in fascination at the images of Emily's ankle and ribs.

"When did you break the ankle?" Dr. Nolan asked, peering at the plate and screws showing up clearly on the x-ray.

"Last year."

"It healed very nicely. The good news is nothing is seriously broken." Emily perked up at the news. "Your ribs are just bruised. Now the bullet did cause a small hairline fracture to the tibia."

Emily sighed, not liking the sound of that. Now she could look forward to the next six weeks stuck in a cast. She began to zone out but came back when she heard the rest of what the doctor had to say.

"But the crack is so small that putting on a cast would cause more damage. We'll just put your leg in a walking boot. It will provide the bone with the support it needs and prevent muscle atrophy from occurring. Just wear it for two weeks and see your regular orthopedic doctor. Sound good?"

Emily smiled in relief. "Sounds great."

"Good. Now lets get you all cleaned up and bandaged so we can send you on your way," Dr. Nolan said with a smile.

Emily nodded. She sent Allie to go sit with JJ and Reid out in the waiting room and settled back to let the doctor and nurse do their jobs.

* * *

_Well JJ had been right, Emily didn't like being referred to as a victim. Now do check in next week. There is still more to the story. Oh, and don't forget to let me know what you think. Until then._


	19. Chapter 18

_Tis amazing how quickly a week passes and next thing I know it is posting time again. I'm beginning to sound like a broken record but I have to thank all who took the time to review. Much appreciated. Now go read and enjoy._

* * *

"Yeah. We're on our way to the hotel," JJ said into the phone from her seat in the front of the SUV. Reid was driving while Emily sat in the back with one arm around Allie's shoulders, staring out the window lost in thought. Allie had Edgar astride Geordi and the two were happily galloping around the backseat.

As JJ listened to Hotch, she glanced back at her friend, her eyes drawn to the four small butterfly strips that held the cut on Emily's cheek closed. As Dr. Nolan had predicted, the bullet wound was easily stitched up but the lashes on her back took longer. The four welts that had been reopened were infected. They first had to be cleaned out before the stitches could be put in.

She turned away so that Emily wouldn't hear. "She's being Emily. She's coping in silence," she said softly, answering Hotch's concerned question.

Emily came back to the present when she heard her name. "Is that Hotch?"

"Yes. They are on they way back to the cabin to look for any trophies Sutton might have kept from his victims."

Emily nodded. "Tell him to look in the gun safe. That was one of the few places I couldn't search."

JJ passed the message along and then hung up. "He says they will."

"So his name is Sutton?" she asked.

"Yes. Lewis Sutton."

She turned her eyes back to the window. "He never told me his name. He just made me call him sir," she said in a voice tinged with anger.

JJ's heart broke for her friend again, knowing how hard it was for her to admit that. "Emily, do you want to talk about it?"

"No," she said with a shake of her head. "The only thing I really want to do is to take a long needed shower but I can't due to the stitches."

JJ smiled and held up the paper bag Dr. Nolan had given her. "The good doctor anticipated that. In addition to your meds, she sent along waterproof tape and dressing to keep the stitches dry."

Emily genuinely smiled for the first time since they found her. "A woman after my own heart." JJ chuckled while Emily looked back out the window. "Reid, step on it. You're driving like a little old lady."

"No I'm not," he retorted. "I'm just driving carefully." He was, studiously trying to avoid hitting any bumps or potholes that might jar his injured teammate.

"Yes you are. A school bus just passed us and it's going the speed limit," Emily pointed out. It felt good to tease.

Allie giggled and JJ grinned. She reached over and punched Reid lightly on the arm. "Spence, put the pedal to the metal."

* * *

Once Reid decided to drive like a normal person, it didn't take them long to reach the hotel. Stepping into the building was a new experience for Allie. She had never been to a hotel. At first it scared her so she stayed glued to Emily's side and clung tightly to her hand. But her natural curiosity overcame her fear and she began to look around her with new eyes. The elevator absolutely fascinated her. Before anyone could stop her, and much to the dismay of the other occupant, Allie dashed over and punched the rest of the buttons. The three agents gave the man apologetic smiles as they got off on their floor.

Allie was the first into the room, making a beeline for one of the beds. She climbed up and began to bounce. "Mommy, I'm hungry," she declared.

"Okay," Emily said, limping over. She reached over and stopped Allie, afraid that she might fall off or worse, break the bed. "But do you mind waiting until I finish my shower?" She was desperate to wash off four days of dirt.

"I guess so," she said, plopping down on the bed in disappointment.

Emily smiled. "I have an idea. While I'm in the shower, why don't you and JJ order room service? The food should be ready by the time I get out."

The little girl thought about it. Okay but what is room service?"

"That's when the hotel's kitchen cooks the meal and then brings it up to our room."

Allie's eyes went wide at the new concept. "We can eat in bed?"

JJ and Emily laughed. "Yes, Allie-gator," she said, tousling the girl's blonde locks. "You can eat in bed if you want."

"Cool," she breathed in awe, making the two agents laugh again. "Mommy, go take your bath."

"Yes, Ma'am." Still chuckling, Emily went into the bathroom and closed the door.

JJ retrieved the menu from the desk and sat down on the bed next to Allie. Now alone with the liaison, the little girl grew shy. She put a little distance between her and JJ and pulled the two stuffed animals in her lap.

The blonde pretended not to notice. "So, Allie, what would you like to eat?"

"Mac and cheese and a chocolate milkshake," she answered immediately and softly.

"Okay. What do you think we should get Mom…Emily?" JJ quickly corrected herself.

Allie scrunched up her face, thinking hard. "The same," she decided.

"Hmmm…I don't know if Emily likes mac and cheese. But I do know she likes hamburgers and fries. Why don't we get her that?"

"And a chocolate milkshake?"

JJ chuckled. She could see how her friend fell for this little girl. "That too."

"What are you going to have?" Allie asked, growing comfortable with having the blonde agent around.

"You want me to eat with you and Emily?" The girl nodded. "Well then, I think I will have a burger but with a vanilla milkshake. Sound good to you?"

"Uh huh."

JJ smiled as she grabbed the phone. She dialed up room service and placed their order, Allie listening in raptly at her side.

* * *

In the bathroom, Emily avoided looking in the mirror. She wasn't ready to view the damage Sutton had done to her face and back. She knew what her face had looked like at the beginning of her captivity and it hadn't looked pretty. Since then she had taken several more hits and she shuddered to think how she looked now. Keeping her back to the mirror, Emily put the lid down on the toilet and sat on it to remove the walking boot. Just as she was pulling the scrub top off, her other clothes had been kept as evidence, there was a soft knock at the door.

"Emily, can I come in?" JJ asked.

"Sure," she answered, holding the blue material to her chest to cover her nakedness.

JJ cracked the door open and slipped inside. Emily could hear the sounds of a cartoon playing in the other room. "I thought you might need some help covering the stitches on your back."

"I do. Thanks." Not making eye contact, she turned her back to JJ.

Pity once again consumed the blonde liaison when she saw the red lash marks. Her first instinct was to say something comforting but she remembered Emily's earlier reaction so she held her tongue. Instead, she focused on applying the waterproof protection without hurting her friend. Unfortunately she wasn't completely successful; several times Emily's shoulders tensed and she heard her suck in a breath.

"Allie watching cartoons?" Emily asked.

"Yes. Seems she likes Bugs Bunny."

Emily smiled. "Nice. She's not giving you any trouble, is she?"

"Not at all. She's a sweet little girl. I can see why you fell for her."

"She is," Emily agreed and fell silent, no longer feeling like talking.

JJ took her cue and continued on is silence. When she was done, she hesitated then laid a hand on Emily's shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze. "All done. Anything else I can do for you?"

Emily turned and gave her a small smile. "No. I'm good. Thanks again."

JJ set the tape and dressing down on the sink top. "No problem. While you are showering, I'll get you a clean set of clothes. I doubt you want to wear those scrubs for the rest of the day."

"No, I don't." Emily wrinkled her nose. "They smell like the hospital."

The blonde chuckled and left her alone to finish undressing. Emily stepped into the shower and turned it on as hot as she could stand it. She let the water cascade over her battered body, wincing as it struck the uncovered cuts and abrasions. Grabbing the shampoo and soap, she methodically set about washing the taint of Sutton off of her. Once she felt clean, Emily rested her hands against the shower wall and ducked her head under the water, letting the heat loosen her knotted muscles.

Staring at the tiles, she mumbled the words she had been denying, "I'm a victim."

In the privacy of the shower, Emily opened the mental boxes she had used to lock away the unwanted emotions, letting loose the fears and humiliations that had accumulated during her ordeal. The tears mixed with the rivulets of water coursing down her cheeks. Her soft sobs were masked by the sound of the running water. Emily stayed that way until the tears had dried and the water had turned cold.

Emily felt better when she stepped out but knew that she still had a long way to go. Once this case was behind her and she was safely ensconced in her apartment, she would have the time to fully come to terms with what happened to her. For now she would have to hold it together for herself and for Allie. She grabbed a towel and quickly dried off, glad that the mirror was steamed up so that she didn't have to look at her reflection. Pulling her damp hair up into a ponytail, Emily dressed in the jeans and the loose fitting shirt JJ had left for her. Putting on the walking boot, Emily limped out.

* * *

Allie spotted her immediately. She ran over, grabbed Emily's hand and pointed with the other, bouncing eagerly up and down. "Look, Mommy! They brought lunch just like you said. And they used a wagon to carry it!"

Emily chuckled at Allie's description of the service cart. She looked down into the excited green eyes. "Pretty cool, huh?"

"Yeah." She let go of Emily's hand and climbed on the bed. "Can we eat in bed? You said we could."

"Yes, I did. Now sit down before you fall off," she gently scolded the little girl who had resumed bouncing. She quickly complied, reveling in the new experience. Emily lifted the cover off one of the plates. "Now who ordered the mac and cheese?"

Allie's hand shot in the air. "Me! Me! Me!"

Smiling, Emily handed her the plate. "Since I know JJ likes vanilla, I would guess one of these chocolate milkshakes is for you."

Allie nodded, her mouth full of mac and cheese. Emily passed it to her, but not before cautioning the little girl to be careful and try not to spill anything. The two women sorted out the rest of the meal between them. Settling on the beds, the three tucked into their meals and ate in companionable silence. For Emily it was especially enjoyable, glad to be able to recognize what she was eating.

When the dirty dishes were piled up on the cart and Allie cleaned up, JJ went over to the dresser to get the bag Dr. Nolan had given her. She retrieved two prescription bottles and shook out a couple of pills.

She held them out to Emily who shook her head and said, "I don't need them. I'm fine."

"Emily, you need to take them. I know your leg and back have to be hurting."

"A little," she admitted. "But I don't like what they do to me so I'll just skip them."

JJ arched an eyebrow. "Please humor me and take them, at least for today. That is all I'm asking," she said, still holding out her hand.

Emily stared at the two different pills. She hated what pain meds did to her. They made her sleepy and always threw off her appetite. She was going to argue more when she caught a glimpse of Allie's face. Obviously she had sensed the tension building in the room, for her eyes were filled with worry and she was back to sucking her thumb.

She sighed and took the pills from JJ. "Just for today," she reiterated, accepting the glass of water and downing the meds in one gulp.

JJ simply nodded her thanks. Allie feeling the tension fade tugged at Emily's shirtsleeve. "Mommy, will you watch cartoons with me?"

"Sure," Emily agreed with a smile and made herself more comfortable on the bed. Allie settled next to her and arranged the two stuffed animals so that they could also watch the TV.

As Emily predicted, the combination of the painkiller and the antibiotic knocked her out. Within a half hour of taking them, she was sound asleep while the little girl was still fully engrossed in the cartoon. She was still dead to the world when Hotch knocked on the door an hour later.

JJ got up and let him in. He waited for her to close the door behind him before he spoke. "How is she doing?"

"Fine, I guess," she said with a shrug. "You know how Emily can be. So far she really hasn't wanted to talk about what happened up there."

Hotch nodded. "That's understandable. It takes time to process a trauma like that. How did it go at the hospital? Was she mad at you?"

"Yes, but she eventually agreed to everything including the rape kit." JJ felt her hatred for Sutton boil back to the surface. She crossed her arms and glanced down the short hallway to the brunette sleeping soundly.

She stepped closer to Hotch and spoke in a low, angry voice. "To keep Emily from escaping, he put her in shackles. The metal rubbed her ankles raw. And…and," JJ stammered because she was so mad. "He whipped her."

Hotch's eyes widened in shock. "He what?" he asked, not believing his ears.

"He whipped her," JJ repeated and Hotch immediately regretted letting Dave stop Morgan from beating Sutton to a bloody pulp. He would have gladly added a few blows of his own.

Before he could press for more details, he felt a tug on his suit jacket. He looked down to find Allie standing next to him, the black material crumpled in one hand and two stuffed animals clutched in the other.

"It's my fault that Mommy got hurt," she whispered.

JJ knelt down and rubbed a hand up and down the little girl's arm. "What do you mean, Sweetie?"

"I gave Mommy the stuff to get those things off her feet but Daddy caught her with them. He knew that she got them from me." She sniffled and released Hotch's jacket to wipe at her nose.

"Mommy wouldn't let Daddy punish me." Allie stuck her thumb in her mouth.

"So your Daddy whipped Emily instead?" JJ asked softly, eyes full of compassion and understanding. Her admiration of her friend just went up another notch.

"Uh huh," she said around the thumb. "It's my fault."

JJ saw she was on the verge of crying and pulled the unresisting child into a hug. "Oh, Sweetie, it's not your fault. You're just trying to help her."

Allie sniffled again. "That's what Mommy said to me."

"And Emily was right. You did nothing wrong." She gave the girl another hug. "Thank you for telling us. Now why don't you, Edgar and Geordi go back and watch some more cartoons while Hotch and I finish talking?"

"Okay," she said with a nod. She went back and crawled onto the bed, lying down and resting her head on Emily's stomach.

JJ observed how comfortable Allie looked next to the sleeping Emily, and then cringed at the thought of the abuse Emily had suffered through to protect the little girl. She stood up and slowly brought her eyes back to Hotch. In his eyes she could see that he was thinking the same thing.

"What went down in that cabin is going to have to come out at some point." JJ noted thinking of the reports.

Hotch nodded. "I know. That's one of the reasons I stopped by. I wanted to see how she was doing and if she was up to giving her statement."

"It's going to be hard on her," JJ said with a sigh. The anger she had for Sutton was replaced with her overwhelming concern for her friend's emotional state.

"All we can do is be there for her."

"If she allows us." JJ countered.

Hotch could only shrug his agreement. He reached for the knob and opened the door. Before stepping out, he said, "Call me when she wakes up."

"I will," JJ said with a nod and locked the door behind him. Running a hand through her hair, she walked down the short hallway. When she entered the main room, she stopped and smiled at the scene before her. Allie had fallen asleep with her head still on Emily's stomach and the brunette had her arm draped over the child. JJ went quietly over to the closet and retrieved the spare blanket. Unfolding it, she covered up the two slumbering figures as best as she could. JJ settled on the other bed with her briefcase. She pulled out a pile of files to review and determine where the team was heading next.

* * *

Emily slowly stirred from her drug-induced slumber. Prying her sleep encrusted eyes open, she looked around expecting to see the rough-hewn logs of the cabin's walls. When she didn't, she began to panic, at a loss to where her captor had taken her. Then a memory wormed its way through the fog encompassing her mind and she calmed down. She remembered that she had escaped and was now safely back in the hotel room with Allie and JJ. With a groan, Emily sat up in bed.

JJ, who had been playing cards with Allie on the other bed, looked over with concerned eyes. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah. I'm just a little stiff." She stifled a yawn. "How long have I been asleep?"

The liaison glanced at her watch. "It's almost seven thirty so I would have to say a little over six hours. You slept through dinner."

"I hate fuc…err…freaking pain pills," Emily said, remembering at the last minute that there was a child in the room. "I don't like the way they muck up my mind."

She rolled her shoulders in an attempt to loosen the muscles and instantly regretted it. The welts reawakened and sent pain shooting down her spine, causing Emily to wince. JJ saw the grimace and chose to ignore it, knowing that she would be unable to convince her friend to take another pain pill.

Emily clumsily swung her feet over the side of the bed, the heaviness of the walking boot hampering her movement. She sat still, waiting for the pain to die down. As she did, she watched Allie flip over a card, slap it down on the bed and giggle in delight when she apparently won the hand.

"What are you playing, Allie-gator?" she asked.

"War, Mommy. And I'm winning," she said in a triumphant voice, holding up her thicker pile.

"Good for you. Did JJ teach it to you?"

"Uh huh," she said, frowning when she lost her next card to JJ. Edgar and Geordi sat next to her, watching the game with disinterested eyes.

"Did she have dinner?" Emily asked, directing the question to JJ.

"Yes, she did," JJ said, eyes focused on the game and taking the next three hands from Allie. "Guess what she had."

Emily pretended to think about it. "Mac and cheese. Washed down by a thick, creamy chocolate shake?"

"You got it," JJ said proudly. Allie giggled at her new mommy's silliness. "Are you hungry, Emily? I can order you something."

"I'm really not that hungry," she admitted, not surprised that the one painkiller was already affecting her appetite. "Maybe a small bowl of chicken noodle or cream of broccoli soup?"

JJ almost laughed out loud when Allie scrunched up her face in disgust. "I'll call it in."

As she reached for the phone, JJ watched as Emily released her hair from the ponytail and absently combed her fingers through it. It felt so good and so right that her best friend was safely back in the fold. Now everything was back to normal. Well, next to normal. Emily's eyes were still troubled, especially whenever she looked at Allie, making JJ wonder what internal battles were raging in her head. They could about things that the team could help her settle, but the odds were that the brunette wouldn't let them past her walls. Eventually things would get better as time healed her physical and mental wounds. JJ just hoped the scars that remained would be barely noticeable.

* * *

Meanwhile Emily waited for the pain in her back to fade to a dull ache before getting to her feet and limping for the bathroom. _Time to face what the bastard did to me,_ she thought as she closed the door and turned to the mirror. Emily sucked in her breath as she stared at her reflection. It was just as bad as she had surmised. She looked like crap and no amount of make up was going to disguise it. She'll just have to get use to people staring at her and asking if her boyfriend or husband was hitting her.

_Now for my back,_ Emily thought and slowly unbuttoned the shirt. She took a deep, calming breath and removed the shirt. Turning, she looked over her shoulder and sighed. It was worse than she had thought. She counted fourteen individual welts. She shook her head sadly. _He had struck me that many times?_ She wondered in disbelief. All she could remember clearly were the first couple of blows. After that, everything had blurred into one continuous throbbing. She stared at the four lash marks covered with bandages. The doctor said that they would scar, but if she took good care of them, the scarring should be minimal.

Emily sighed for a second time. "Looks like I won't be wearing a bra for awhile," she said to her reflection.

Carefully she put the shirt back on, deciding she would ask JJ to help change the bandages later. As she was exiting the bathroom, there was a knocking at the door. Emily told JJ that she would get it and limped over to answer it with Allie tagging along.

She peered through the peephole to find Hotch standing on the other side. "Hey," she said in greeting as she let him in.

"Hi. How are you doing," he asked.

"I'm doing okay. Thanks for asking."

"You're not room service," Allie said in disappointment.

Hotch looked down and smiled at the little girl partially hiding behind Emily. "I'm afraid not, Allie. Sorry about that."

"Mommy's getting soup," she announced, smiling at him and bumping against Emily's leg.

"Sounds delicious."

Emily smiled and fondly tousled the little girl's hair. "What can I do for you, Hotch?"

"We need you to tell us what happened up there."

* * *

_Well that sounds ominious, doesn't it? Do come back next week. I heard a rumor that a very important decision will be made. But before you go, please tell me what you think. Until next week._


End file.
